Day 8 in Chengdu, Sichuan

October 5, 2007
Today we woke up at about 8ish and then got ready to head to Leshan Big Buddha. After a somewhat better breakfast we hit the road but it was actually a real road this time so it wasn't bad. We stopped at a rest stop that was actually CLEAN and not a hole in the ground and not covered in nasty and not gross. But what was amazing about this place was that there was a huge everything tea shop outside! They had green tea ice cream ( i had two because they were small haha) and fried tea leaves and green tea pancakes and so much other stuff I couldn't explain. And the next best part was that they had free samples of everything haha, but we had to leave so we didn't get to spend much time there even though I would have liked to. We then stopped at a place to have lunch... it was ok but still disappointing. It was at some park place and we had like 45 minutes of free time and they had a giant ball you get inside of and then you can go out on the lake in it and some people did that but I didn't because I didn't want to wait in line. After that we went to the big buddha and then waited in line in 99% humidity and sun and heat for a while, then we got on a boat and went down the river and drove past the buddha and then looked at it for a bit and took a picture then headed back... kinda lame to drive 3 hours each way for... We then headed back and by that time it was basically dinner and we headed to a hot pot place!!! and they gave us a reallllly spicy and super MA hot pot that was really good. And the best part was we could order whatever we wanted and they just kept brining it out. After a long while here we heading to the famous changing faces opera. It was really fun, they had a couple acts like singers and little skits and things and then at the end they had their changing faces show which is everyone doing their dances and everything and they change the masks they are wearing really quickly and you can't really tell how but I think its under their hats or something. After that we had the night free and I headed out for a night on the town with a few friends. On our way back home later that night they had kids everywhere selling roses. I told one earlier that I would buy one from him if he was still there when I was going home and he was so I bought one. But then all 20 of the other ones wanted me to buy one too, including this littler girl who kept sticking them in my pockets and wouldn't leave me alone. And then another boy was trying to get me to get some too and I said I had already bought one from his friend and then he told me that he had no friends which is kinda sad. But then he opened the taxi door for me and gave me a rose for free and said he would help me out haha. After that we headed back to the hotel and went to sleep for our last night in Sichuan.

Day 4 Heading to Danba Tibetan Town

the first picture is of the bridge that Mao crossed in Luding (but we had no time to go on it :o() and the second is infront of my hotel at Danba, and the third is a large portion of our dinner that was too 麻 for us to handle.


the October 1, 2007
On this day we got to sleep in a little and then drive to Danba, it was a little bit uneventful since it was mostly driving all day. Lots of bad roads and driving through small towns and "唱山歌". We stopped in a small town called Luding to get some snacks and water since where we were going next they wouldn't have much of that kinda stuff. I guess Mao and his army crossed a chain bridge in this city sometime during their civil war. We only got to spend a half hour there though because we had to get to a tunnel ( i think they said it was the longest in asia?) before it switched direction ( they make it one way during holidays and switch direction for long times) or else we would have to wait like 4 or 5 hours and would miss something else we were doing. Before we went in the tunnel we stopped yet again to take more pictures, but they also had a lot of vendors who were selling fruit and nuts and things and they had some dried kiwis which were really good. Then we went through the tunnel and came out the other side into the mostly Tibetan area of Sichuan. Mostly this whole time I got lots of scenery shots. We stopped a few more times to get pictures and look at road vendors and then drove down lots more bumpy roads and through more small towns and maybe got stuck in the mud a few times.

We then got to Danba and checked in our hotel that wasn't thaaaaat bad but once again the toilet acted as the drain for our shower, which was also not warm water, but actually boiling and it would switch between boiling and freezing almost every few seconds. We only stayed here for one night though. We had free time in Danba so we went down to the shopping area naturally and went shopping. I ending up buying a nice chinese chess set. Its made of out real (haha yeah right) leather as the guy says, and each of the pieces is also made from leather and the board and the case and its blue. I think I paid about 8 or 9 dollars for it so not too bad. I also bought one of the Tibetan spinners that has the sutra inside that I really wanted. We then went back to the hotel and hung out a bit before going to dinner. We went to some random place on the side of the road and we wanted to eat outside so they brought a huge table from inside and put it outside for us. I think there were about 10 of us total. We got a bunch of dishes like normal but they were 麻麻麻麻麻麻麻 to the extreme. I couldn't even eat the mapodoufu or the fish, even though I didn't really want to. The eggplant was good though (as usual). All in all it was a great dinner and fun being out with everyone. Then after that we headed to the internet cafe for 20 minutes only cuz they were gonna lock us out of the hotel and I manged to check my e-mail even though it took all 20 minutes to load. We made it back just in time and then played charades for a while until we got yelled at for being too loud because you can hear EVERYTHING even if its a whisper through the walls in that place. Then after that I had a boiling/freezing shower and went to sleep to get up in the morning early to check out and head to the Jiaju Tibetan Village with the Tibetan families. There are pictures below to see!

here are pictures!!!!!!!

My Trip to Sichuan Province Pt. 1 (Shanghai to Chengdu)

September 28, 2007

We all met in the lobby around 7:30 (i was a little late though because i forgot to set my alarm... oops) to take a bus to Pudong International Airport to fly 2 and a half hours or so to Chengdu which is the capitol of Sichuan Province. I bought a a bag here to use for the trip which probably wasn't a good idea and it broke before we even go to the airport haha, lucky I didn't have to check anything and I could hold it shut until we got to our first hotel. The airline was a lot nicer that I thought it would be too which was a plus, I didn't see much of it though because I passed out almost right when I got on haha. We arrived in Chengdu at about 1:30 and met the Beijing students from our program and went to our first hotel. On the way there the Beijing leader teacher, Han Bing, told us what was ahead of of for the next week and a half which included lots of mountain driving, Tibetan villages, among other things. We got to our first hotel and checked in. It was pretty nice except for some reason bathroom basically had windows for walls and you had to pull a curtain over it to block anyone from seeing haha. We had a few hours of free time but that was basically spent in Carrefour (kinda like a French Walmart) standing in line because me and Lisa each and to buy a new bag to put our stuff in. Then we had to wait for another 20 minutes while they figured out how to use our credit cards haha. We went for a group dinner at a restaurant but I was kind of disappointed because Han Bing told us he was gonna tell all the restaurants not to make the food spicy because he didn't want anyone to 拉肚子 (diarrhea) on the trip haha. Me and Lisa were both kinda upset because we were both looking forward to spicy food so much. After that Yuki, Masako, Lisa and I just walked around Chengdu looking in expensive shops, then back to a bathing suit shop so they could get one for part of our trip. We also saw a huge statue of Mao with fireworks and crazy lights... almost a bit scary. After all that went back to the hotel and Yuki taught us a Japanese card game that we played for until 2 am haha, and then we went on a snack run to a 24 hour convenience store before finally going to sleep.


p.s.

Also I have a lot of pictures but they are on on Facebook, I haven't gotten around to finding another photo site but here are a lot of pictures from one of my friends that anyone can see

http://www.shanghaijim.smugmug.com/

sometime I will get around to it and then you can see all mine


update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my pictures are up to see!
click here for my pictures!