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Published: August 7th 2014
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I have spent a long time planning our trip to Chengdu and Xian with the help of my lovely Chinese teacher Helen!! Every time I think That's it all planned, a place to visit every day she comes up with more fantastic places to see and do!! I had a list of places but that seemed to doubled!! With the plane tickets and hotels booked, driver ready to collect us and look after us we were ready for our great adventure!!
Andy has been so busy working long hours and with his trip to the US for 2 weeks at the start of July this trip was just what we all needed............some nice family time!! Now William is a bit older he can understand much more. When I told him the day before we left that we were going on holiday and going on a big plane he was sooooo excited!! I had told Matthew a couple of the places we were going to visit but the rest was a surprise.....like wise to Andy!!! So, bags packed and all ready, Mr Lv arrived at 5am to take us to the Tianjin airport to get the first flight out. The flight
was only just under 3 hours, long enough with 2 very excited boys!! Our lovely driver Mr Wang was waiting for us ready to start our adventures! We spent 5 and half days in Chengdu and to communicate with our driver most of it was through our translater on our phone!! But Mr Wang was really nice and a good driver and really looked after us. We went straight to our hotel which was hidden down a little side street!! But it was a really nice hotel. Mr Wang said he would be back in an hour to take us to our first place....just enough time for lunch!!
We went to visit the Pandas first. I don't know how I managed it but we seemed to go on holiday during THE hottest week in China so far!! So the pandas were all hiding inside, with sweat pouring down us....I really did not blame them!!! We saw lots of pandas and we were really lucky to see a new born panda only a couple of days old in the "Panda hospital" The outdoor areas for the pandas were really nice and natural.
Day 2: We went to a culture
street in the morning and down one of the small streets we found a small museum/building. Once inside we saw lots of small rooms and furniture that they used to use many years ago. There was a lovely court yard with water all around and a large drum outside by the really big front door! We carried on down the street and found lots of stalls and food places....the smells were interesting!!
In the afternoon we went to a very different type of culture street......really small ally ways, Chinese decorations hanging and lots of shops and stalls selling everything you could think of!! There was street after street and then in the middle was a lovely lake surrounded by trees and plants and restaurants. Even though it was really busy, people everywhere it wasn't too bad. We sat by the lake while William ate his ice cream then all of a sudden lots of Chinese people came to sit with us, watching William eat!!!! He was more worried that someone was going to eat his ice cream!!! In the evening we went to see a fantastic Chinese show - The Face Changing Show. My teacher was raving about this
show and the pictures she showed me looked really good so I had really high hopes!! And I was not disappointed at all!!! It was an outdoor theatre. We sat 4 rows back from the front. Including in the price was Chinese tea and nibbles and we could choose from having a massage or having our ears cleaned!!! The boys could have had their faces painted but both boys chickened out!!!! I had a rough head, back and leg massage and Andy had his ears cleaned!!!! The show was great. There were about 7/8 different acts including Chinese dance and singing, puppet show and a fantastic shallow show. The man was amazing!! Then there was a Chinese comedy show....mmm it was...different!! And then they saved the best till last.......The face changing show. There were 6 different people dressed in Chinese dress with capes all wearing different masks and as they danced they lifted their cape up and their mask changed....no touching, it was magic! They were very clever and the boys sat amazed and mouths open wide!!! A night to remember that's for sure!!
Day 3: This was at the top of my list, to visit the Giant Buddha.
A Giant Buddha was made/cut into a mountain many years ago, I had seen the pictures which looked amazing but to be able to stand next to it was as our American friends would say was awesome!!!!!! When we were told by our guide that we had to walk up 333 steeps I thought we wouldn't make it but we did!!! At the top were 2 temples and between the 2 buildings was an area for burning candles and saying prays etc. It was a lovely peaceful place to visit and reflect. We then went to see the Giant Buddha from the top of the mountain......we could have gone down the steeps to stand in front of the Buddha's feet and look up but the que was 2 hours long!!!
Day 4: We went to visit Du Jiang Yan which is a very pretty scenic part of China. We stood at the bottom of Towns God's Temple at look up at the amazing building. The gardens were really pretty this time of year with all the flowers in bloom. We walked across the "Husband and Wife" rope Bridge......a very wobbly bridge!!!! We also walked across the Nanqiao bride which
was busy with people singing, playing music and people dressed up as a Chinese monkey!! Under the bridge was rushing water. On our way home we stopped at Qing Cheng Mountains and had a walk around. because it was late in the day we didn't have enough time to walk up the mountain.....maybe next time!!
During our stay in Chengdu we also went to a museum, local Temple and had a lovely walk around a local wetland. We saw so many lovely wildlife and flowers, a very beautiful peaceful place. It was quite sad to leave this city but we were ready for part 2 of our adventure!!
We flew to Xian, we were only going to be there 2 days and I only planned to go to see the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses but our diver managed to make time for us to visit a local museum. Seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors was amazing.
I wasn't sure how close we would get to see them and I was surprised just how close we managed to get!! And to see how big they were and to stand so close..... Matthew really enjoyed this trip! The photos I think say it all!!
The city of Xian was amazing at night time, such a pretty place all lit up. Our hotel was in a small street just 5 minutes walk from all the action!! The Drum Tower at night time just looked so Awesome!!! We took a bike ride to the City wall and had a lovely walk along at night. The ride was something else and a great, funny experience that i don't think the boys will forget!!!!!! They just "aim" when driving!!!!! Going the wrong way round the busiest round-about was scary!!!!! At night there were stalls selling lots of lovely things and lots and lots of kites flying in the sky, shining in the bright lights. We walked around the Muslin market......that was different, I didn't like this so much...the butcher shops were not nice to see, animal parts and blood everywhere and the smells were really strong. We saw some amazing places, people and buildings. So many great photos and memories that will last a life time.......one of the reasons we are here, living in China. By living here we get to do some amazing things that we just could only dream about in England.
Now we back home, back to routine of work, cooking and lots of washing!! Matthew is back to school next week......The summer holidays went so fast. He has made a lovely scrap book to show his new teacher. He will have lots to say in show and tell!!! Now.................................Where will our next trip take us????? Hope you enjoy the photos and thanks for taking time to read my blog!!
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