Blue Skies & Warm Weather - Chengdu at its Best

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It was a late morning. I didn't get up until 9:00, but I didn't go to bed until 2:00. I was busy finishing an article for publication. Hopefully this is the last short article. It has really been a lot of work. Today I have only one meeting at 2:00 and of course at the favorite tea shop. He is a Tibetan art historian and very knowledgable. Yesterday was busy all day with either working or talking about art, artists, History or religion.

I can't believe my time in Chengdu is nearly over. The city and environment is the closest I have ever come to feeling like I was still in Vancouver. Strange I know!

Even though last summer at the University was extremely successful, this year was even more successful - although harder with less down time. I have also learned far more than I did last year. Mostly due to asking the right people the right questions. Next year will hopefully be a little more relaxed with extra time for doing some fieldwork in the nearby Gyalrong region of Tibet. Recently some late 14th and early 15th century murals have been discovered in an old monastery. Normally scholars say there are no old murals in the Amdo or Kham regions of Tibet. This apparently is not true.

Today or tomorrow I will try and visit an old lama friend that has been suffering from a stroke for some years now. I usually visit with him each time I am in Chengdu. I knew him first in Seattle back in the mid 1970s. There is a long list of people that I still haven't seen because of the pace of the University and Sichuan Museum schedule. Most of them I will not have time to see on this trip. I know, that sounds strange too, but the reality is, it has just been too busy with too many writing projects, class preparation and lectures.

Yesterday I spent the morning looking at some of the best art I have seen this entire trip. That was followed by a delicious Chengdu home cooked meal. Tomorrow is likely to get very busy with my close friends wanting to say goodbye with lunch and dinner. I will try very hard to make it an early night. The flight on Thursday is not until the early afternoon. Usually I fly out in the early morning and then have a number of hours to relax in the Hong Kong airport. This time I will only have a two hour lay over. It should be fine provided there aren't any thunderstorms in Chengdu on the way out. I haven't check the weather for Thursday. We had a whopper of a thunder storm a few days ago.

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Photos

Padmasambhava in Youthful Appearance
Note the lack of a moustache and goatee.