We took the bullet train to Chengdu which is in the Sichuan Province. Known for their spicy food. The 4 hour train ride was largely in tunnels because the area is so mountainous. When we did come out of a tunnel, the view was beautiful!

In the morning I headed with our guide and driver to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. The center was founded in 1987 with 6 giant pandas rescued from the wild. It now houses over 150 giant pandas as well as red pandas and other animals such as cranes and peacocks. While the adult panda sleeps over 16 hours a day, I did have the opportunity to see many pandas as well as some baby pandas!

After visiting the pandas, lunch was at a traditional Sichuan restaurant, I was the only westerner in the restaurant. I was a little worried about how spicy the food might be, but It was manageable. There were people eating plates full of chili peppers! My guide also instructed me on the proper way to drink tea.

The remainder of the day was spent strolling along Jinli Old street (mainly food and shops), then heading to Renmin park which is the city park. As with the other parks we have seen, there were retirees dancing, playing mahjong, singing and playing musical instruments.

It is much more lush here than the other cities we have visited and the traffic is as crazy as it was in Beijing. The guide describes it well when she said, there are two lanes on the road, but many times the cars are three across. You never know when they will merge upon each other. Also add in the motor scooters and bicyclists.