Chengdu
Trip Start
Jun 17, 2005
1
16
21
Trip End
May 15, 2006
Chengdu,
China
Monday, August 29, 2005
Culturally and historically speaking, Chengdu is an amazing city rich with tradition, culture, as well as new age trends. Sitting on a plain on the southern part of China, just east of the Himalayan Mountains, Chengdu's history boasts to be over 2,000 years old. Out of all the cities I had visited in China last summer, Chengdu remained my favorite because what you have here is a big city but with many of the aspects of what you would call traditional China.
Chengdu is home to over 10 million people and is considered to be one of the major cities of China. However, unlike to fast-paced metropolitan lifestyle you find in major cities likes Shanghai and Beijing, Chengdu is much more mellow and relaxed. People are far less concerned with making the "BIG BUCKS" and much more inclined to enjoy their lives at their own pace. This can be seen through the many teahouses that line the streets and river ways. In fact, Chengdu is famous for having the most teahouses in the world. The people here, I have found, are much more friendlier than their east coast counterparts and are much more inclined to help a foreigner find his or her way through the city.
My older brother Tim flew in the same day that I did and we spent the next five days touring the city with a local friend, Eric, who I met last summer in Chengdu. Eric graciously offered to be our tour guide as we ventured to the Chengdu Panda Research Base, watched an amazing Sichuan Opera sipping flower tea, visited the 91 meter Giant Buddha in Leshan, and of course tried their famous hot pot cuisine.
