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Published: March 12th 2009
Spring bamboo
Chengdu Panda ReserveDay 4
I'm not going to sugar-coat it. Today was definitely the low point of our trip. When you have three travelers, all with different agendas, things are bound to come to a head at some time. Today was that time. We spent the day sorting out of flight info, not seeing Mao's tomb in Tienanmen Square, grabbing lunch in the food court at one of the fanciest malls in Beijing (oooh...,) and then we boarded a plane for our hour-long flight to Xi'an in the Shaanxi province. Not a terribly fascinating day, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. On the taxi ride from the airport to our hotel in Xi'an, I noticed that although this city was certainly polluted, they took a "glass half full" approach and many of the buildings had solar panels installed on the roofs. This was the highlight of the whole day. After a dinner at the hotel restaurant and a lively conversation about all the Southern foods that they don't have in Canada, it was time for bed. I was ready to move on to the next day. I'd been ready since 9 o'clock this morning.
Day 5
It
The Greeter!
Red Panda in Chengdu was still dark when we left our hotel and made our way to the airport. Too early. We arrived in Chengdu by 9am and thus commenced our day in the life of jet-setters. The plan was to stay in Xi'an, fly to Chengdu in the morning, visit the pandas, take a 2-hour bus ride down to Leshan, visit the world's largest Buddha, take the bus another 2 hours back to Chengdu, take a taxi to the airport, then fly from Chengdu back to Xi'an, take an hour taxi back to our hotel, and call it a day. Seem a bit ambitious? For the record this was not my idea. Before leaving Korea, we had each picked a thing we wanted to see. One said the Great Wall, another wanted to hold a baby panda, and I insisted on seeing the Terra-Cotta Warriors. Somehow or another, the world's largest Buddha became a priority (I'm not quite sure how) and...well you'll see. We were all anxious to see some pandas and so after a brief consult with the airport tourism people, we caught a cab and went directly to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Reserve. All of our frustrations and
Bamboo-palooza!
Snack time for the sub-adult Giant Pandas general travel aggravation melted away when we walked through the entrance and were greeted by two people in full Panda costumes, waiting to pose with the tourists. It was hysterical watching parents try to push their young ones toward the massive pandas for a photo, and the timid and frightened expressions on the children's faces! In honor of the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year,) the entire facility had been decorated. It was gorgeous walking through the bamboo canopy, dripping with red lanterns. It didn't have a zoo-like feel; it truly felt more like a reserve combined with a botanic garden because there were beautiful ponds with black swans swimming around, panda sculptures, and pedestrian bridges throughout.
Our first encounter was with an adorable and very social red panda. He came right up to the edge of his enclosure and even posed for a few pictures. We were convinced he could see his reflection in our camera lenses. The red pandas look like reddish raccoons, with HUGE bushy tails. They mostly wandered around, marking their territory and eating bamboo, and napped in the sun. We made our way to the baby giant pandas. This was clearly the main attraction because
The One and Only
Giant Panda adult in Chengdu you could barely get a spot on the edge of the enclosure to watch the cubs at play. Two of them were trying to pull themselves up onto a swing...it took several amusing attempts, and another guy was up in a tree snacking. The remaining cubs were already asleep, also in the sun. The sub-adult pandas were perhaps the most photogenic (could be because their big pile of bamboo was right near the edge of the enclosure so we got a good look at them) and I took so many pictures of them. One panda even laid down right in the communal pile of bamboo and continued to snack. The adult panda was the least exciting, maybe because he was alone it seemed. He just walked around, ate a bite of bamboo, and walked around some more. Not too much action there. My friend desperately wanted to hold a baby panda (I had mixed feelings on this matter) but since we all came all the way down, it seemed like a waste if she skipped it. It cost about $175 USD and they took her behind closed doors (I peeked through the crack) and gave her a hospital gown and
Shhhhh...
Naptime for the Giant Panda cubs gloves before seating her on a bench, next to a baby panda. She had a grand total of 2 minutes with the bear and they put him on her lap for about 60 seconds. They put some honey on his paw so he'd be distracted and not inclined to attack my friend and they snapped many photos. She loved it but said he was heavy (about 150 pounds) and she got really nervous when he ran out of honey on his paw. Pandas can be aggressive and will attack if they feel threatened or uncomfortable, and all she could think about was this fact as the panda stop licking its paw and looked at her. I opted for the $7, "hold an adult red panda" option because I felt like they don't get as much attention as the giant pandas. My little guy came out of his enclosure, I wore the special gown and gloves, and the handler had me sit down. Then she gave the little guy an apple wedge and put him in my lap. He was soooo cute!!! He didn't pay me any attention, he just loved his apple treat! I had to wonder if he was
the same social red panda we'd encountered earlier since they both seem to be used to people. Hmmm...
With all the activities we were trying to cram into one day, there was, of course, no time for lunch so we headed back into town and after way too much confusion, managed to buy 3 tickets for a bus bound for Leshan. Buddha, we're on our way! The bus ride took two hours and I was surprised to find that it was really interesting. It was my first glimpse of rural life in China and I almost couldn't believe my eyes. I saw the kind of things I always imagined happened in some other part of the world and it was seeing these things that brought the trip into perspective. I saw rice paddies and terraces carved into the sides of mountains. I saw men and women crouched down in fields to harvest the crops by hand! They had hats on to protect their faces from the sun no doubt, and sacks slung over their shoulders, which they filled with the rice or vegetables that they were collecting. I don't think I have ever seen huge fields harvested by hand
Balancing Act
A sculpture at Leshan. ever! As we drove by, you could clearly see the distinct plots for each crop. Some of the rice fields were dry and others were flooded but the whole area seemed very green. I tried to take pictures through the dirty bus windows but they didn't do the landscape justice. I was also surprised to find no evidence of earthquakes! I expected to see detour signs and collapsed homes as we drove through the province that was at the epicenter of last year's massive earthquakes, but there was no destruction to witness. Perhaps we were in the wrong area? Mysterious. As we got off the bus in Leshan, we were greeted by a young Chinese man who seemed to fancy himself a hipster. After he followed us into the bus station, waited while we bought our return tickets and freshened up, we finally agreed that he could drive us to the site of the world's biggest Buddha.
The Leshan Buddha is actually in a much larger park that is full of Buddhist temples, caves with religious carvings, and several smaller Buddha images. We hiked for nearly 45 minutes (too quickly to take much in) until we finally arrived at
I Feel Like I Should Get a T-Shirt!
The World's Biggest Buddha in Leshan. a gigantic Buddha head. We took the obligatory pictures and noticed the 3 hour line winding down the staircase that lead to the Buddha's feet. Just to give you some idea of the size of this guy...he is carved into the side of a mountain and is so big, you can have a picnic with your family on his toenail (that's the wording in the brochure...not mine!) If I ever go back there I will have to take a boat down the river for a different view of him. It was hard to feel too spiritual in the presence of this mighty statue because you were constantly being shoved by the masses but I would guess that without the crowds it would be pretty awesome. As we were leaving we were offered a pedicab ride by an elderly couple who must have been in their sixties. I rode with the woman and marvelled at how she barely slowed down as we went over huge potholes and even up a tiny hill, all the while towing a very guilty passenger along with her.
As you can probably guess, the rest of the evening was spent in transit. We took a
taxi to the bus station in Leshan, a two-hour bus ride back to Chengdu, a taxi to the Chengdu airport, and one-hour flight back to Xi'an and then a final one-hour cab ride back to our hotel that we had left so early that morning. Ahh...the life of a jet-setter!
Day 6
Today is the day I had been waiting for the entire trip. We were going to visit the so-called "8th Wonder of the World" the Terra-Cotta Warriors. Determined to find our own way, we headed to the Xi'an bus station again, and amidst even more confusion, found several bus drivers collecting passengers for the commute to the Warriors. This bus was more rickety than the last had been and I think we took the back roads because their were not many other cars and it was literally a dirt road, with tons of potholes and rubble on either side. I was wondering if this was earthquake related but I couldn't quite tell. Our best guess was either that it was major expansion from the Xi'an or it was the earthquake. We actually were told to get off the bus at the mausoleum which is several kilometers
from the Warriors so when we realized we had been given the wrong directions, we hopped on the next Warriors-bound bus (they were plentiful, one every 15 minutes or so.) When we finally arrived the right place, we opted for a tour guide, which is something I would highly recommend. There is so much history behind the place that we would have missed a lot if we had tried to do it ourselves.
I am not a person of few words but I was rendered speechless when we walked into the hangar housing Pit 1. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I was standing amongst hundreds of clay statues that were thousands of years old! It was infathomable and all I could do was stare and take pictures. There were 3 pits in total and a museum as well. When warriors were initially created, they were all painted in bright colors signifying their rank and position but when the paint met oxygen, it vanished in as little as 20 minutes in some cases. Now, are few examples of warriors with tiny patches of paint remaining. German and Chinese archeologists have opted to leave the remaining pits
Me and the Guys
Speechless at the Terra-Cotta Warriors. unearthed until technology advances and they can preserve the fully painted warriors. They do have some pictures on display, that were taken almost immediately after the statues were uncovered and you can see how they were painted. It was amazing! There were chariots and horses, archers, generals, foot soldiers, and one pit was even the military strategy room! They had glass cases containing bronze chariots that had been excavated and put on display and at the end (completely by chance) the farmer who discovered the Terra-Cotta warriors was available to sign books. How could I pass up this chance! I quickly bought a book in the museum gift shop and then walked over to the old Chinese man smoking what looked like an opium pipe (though I'm sure minus the opium!) He said nothing to anyone, but obliged the many visitors seeking autographs. He took his time writing his signature and it looked more like a picture than a name. I had to wonder if he was perhaps illiterate and created this picture to represent his name once he became famous in town. I don't presume to know Chinese but it really looked unlike a character and more closely resembled
Strategery
They think this was the military strategy room. a mountain.
On the bus ride back into Xi'an, we met a generous middle-aged woman who was taking homemade dumplings to her mother. She made conversation and even allowed us to sample, what have to have been, the most delicious Chinese dumplings I've ever tasted! They weren't even hot, they were just sort of room temperature (though obviously they'd been steamed) and we all had to bite our tounges to refrain from asking for seconds! While China as a country may be seeking to stimulate tourism, the Chinese people aren't quite in on the plan yet, it seems. In Thailand, a country that banks on tourism, everyone down to the convenience store clerk welcomes you with a smile and a "sawasdee." Conversely, in China you can witness the improvements to infrastructure in Beijing and the vast number of tour buses in Xi'an but the people will either stare at you because you look different or completely ignore you altogether. I have to believe that a lot of this is the result of the language barrier which is greater here than in Korea, Japan, or Thailand. It is true that English education is mandatory in the Chinese school system but
Terra-Cotta Warriors
Visiting the 8th Wonder of the World. I wonder if it is a more recent initiative in comparision to other East Asian countries.
Once back in Xi'an, it was a race to grab our luggage from the hotel and cab it back to the airport for our return flight to Beijing. It is safe to say that we were all completely exhausted from the days events and the hours spent en route but so far it has been worth it. I keep telling myself I can sleep on the flight back to Busan...
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julio parcon
non-member comment
teaching
i like the teaching of buddha,im a catholic by birth,and i keep searching the truth,that i have found in buddhism.i read the different books and his teaching and i amaze.and i start to meditate with my own,but i need a help for a proper way of doing meditation.im a filipino.thanks to buddha and to all the religious teachers out there.