Sunday in Chengdu - A Day of Rest

---

Sunday is usually a family day in Chengdu and the city is very slow in the morning which is good for getting around. We had breakfast in a Sichuan style restaurant around the corner from the apartment. The food was very good as usual but not nearly as good as the home cooking we experienced the day before. After breakfast at about noon we went by taxi to the Taoist Temple in the middle of town. I had never been there before and was interested to see it. They say it is the oldest Taoist temple in Sichuan - maybe 8th century. The dating is all based on literature and not on architectural evidence as the buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt some many times over the centuries and then again in the last 50 years. The site was nearly deserted as many Chengdu people were still waking up and having breakfast and lunch. Definitely the best time to go is early on Sunday. The site was very large with many temples devoted to Taoist Immortals and Astrological gods. One temple had three huge images dwarfing everything else inside. For visitors to Chengdu the temple complex is worth seeing at least once. I took some photos which I will post when I get the chance.

After the temple we were picked up and taken to the home of an art collector and looked at many sculpture and paintings. I also saw and photographed a 19th century Karma Kagyu Refuge Field painting. The collector was kind enough to also drive us back to the apartment for a short rest before going out for dinner to the home of another collector. It was a very traditional Tibetan meal except for the JW Black. We only looked at some photos of art and then spent the evening talking. At 11:00 three of us said our farewells to the host and adjourned to a tea shop to continue a conversation about Bon religion and culture. The new addition to our group is an expert on Bon, a scholar from Lhasa that I had previously met in 2007 in Lhasa at a private museum.

Today there is no schedule until tonight. A friend is flying in from Lanzhou and we hope his plane is not delayed - then we will have dinner together. If I get motivated then we will go and say good bye to some friends in the antique market otherwise it is just a relaxing day prior to my departure for Hong Kong and New York tomorrow.

---

Photos

Taoist Temple Introductory Sign
This is the oldest Taoist Temple in Sichuan Province.

Large Metal Goat
This temple has a special relationship with goats.

A Painting of a Goat
It seems the goats were helpers and servants for some of the Taoist Immortals.

A Large Wall Painting
I liked the painting. It was nothing more than that.