Friday Night in Chengdu

---

Last night ended up being moderately late. After a very nice Tibetan meal we headed out to meet friends at a new location run by two Gyalrong girls. Ngawang found the spot and wanted us to try it. There were already four friends there by the time we arrived. There was a lot of toasting and laughing.

Friday morning was relatively calm. We slowly made our way through the Tibetan district of town which is walking distance from the apartment. I bought one art book but could not find others that I was interested in. For lunch we went to a Lingtsang restaurant. They were definitely not used to seeing foreigners - meaning me. We had momos and meat soup. Both were very good and 12 hours later I am still not regretting it, or rather have not had to regret it. After lunch we again visited many shops browsing and visiting acquaintances. After the window shopping and meandering we relaxed in a Starbucks while we waited for a phone call arranging a meeting with a Bonpo lama. Eventually we received the call and went by taxi to the lamas residence. We spent several hours in conversation and parted with promises to meet again in the Spring if not earlier. The lama and I had many friends and acquaintances in common as well as a cousin of his living in Canada that I have known since 1972. The lama and the cousin were both students together at Shechen Monastery prior to 1959.

Returning to the apartment we rested for an hour before going out again to visit an art dealer with a good collection of sculpture and some paintings. I learned a lot and also left with many iconographic and stylistic questions. Tomorrow will be another busy day looking at a collection of sculpture and also meeting with a Bon scholar I have not met before.

Did you know that the city of Chengdu has about 11 million people and the province of Sichuan has approximately 83 million people - double the population of Canada. Chengdu also has more restaurants and tea houses than Beijing or Shanghai. It has to be one of the restaurant capitals of the world.

More later......

---

Photos

A Red Flower
The flower image was actually taken at the Taoist Temple in the middle of Chengdu.