Finally, a private room! Two beds all to myself. Privacy, hurray!
frangible \FRAN-juh-buhl\, adjective: Capable of being broken; brittle; fragile; easily broken. Used most often in military terminology, ie a frangible bullet.
Neither rain nor sleet... The best one that I saw was dad riding with his slicker hooked over the front of his scooter. Crouched under the slicker at dad's feet was a little boy curled around a soccer ball. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Rainy morning rush hour
At the Panda Breeding Center, Chengdu.
This is my new slogan. I need a t-shirt.
ah hah! pandas! These are the "sub-adults"
Sleepy
Anti-social-y
and Awakey. - yes, I know that those are pathetic names. Feel free to suggest your own!
These guys are dead to the world. It's pouring rain right now, but the pandas could not care less.
But wait! It's breakfast time.
Panda one seems interested.
It looks like we have two takers.
One has decided against, but Two still seems in favor of bamboo.
He's coming.
Hello.
Uh oh. Something is blocking his path to breakfast.
He goes over to investigate.
My first panda fight!!! There was quiet grunting and some shoving.
The immovable object wins.
He'll just get down another way. Before that though, he stops to scratch his belly on this post.
This is easy!
Much better than that other route.
The panda version of the "hanging in there" inspirational poster.
almost down.
Success!
Number one decides that breakfast just isn't worth the effort. After all, this is the same animal that is too lazy to breed, thus requiring the artificial insemination center.
They save and weigh the fecal matter to see how much the pandas are eating.
one of the "cubs" eating.
everyone loves the pandas
a newborn national treasure.
see that sign? that's why i'm hiding my camera behind the umbrella. the babies are a little rodent like, to be honest. not all that appealing.
This is the panda version of Where's Waldo. There really is a panda in the picture - one of the "kindergartners". Can you see him?
It's a panda tree! a keeper tried to climb up on a ladder and force him down for breakfast, but the ladder didn't reach and this little guy isn't coming down. Very toddler like.
I like that they even draw rings on the artificial trees to make it more realistic.
Three adults just hanging out at the cafe.
The bars are to keep US away from THEM.
panda droppings!
due to the rain, they were not letting people pay for pictures with the pandas, but this is almost as good. ;)
this cage was outside a restaurant and pigeon was on the menu. yum, flying rat.
shops selling temple goods. outside Wenshu Buddhist Monastery. It's odd, but this is standard. In China, there'll be areas devoted to the sale of one type of good. You'll find 5 shops in a row all selling sporting goods, or tires, or computers. Strange. It must be a remnant of Communism, because from a capitalist point of view, it's unfortunate to have so much competition so readily available.
Monastery and some monks.
turtle for luck - and yes, it's still raining.
it really is peaceful to look at. isn't it? there was a lovely fragrance of jasmine in the air near here.
Stone elephants in China always have 6 tusks. I particularly like the little baby boy hiding between the elephant's legs.
The best meal I've had in China. Tea pressed faux duck; corn with pine nuts; "beef" with potatos, mushrooms, and peppers; tea; and gooseberry juice with mint and other herbs to aid the digestion. I love Buddhist vegetarian food!
courtyard of the restaurant
sorry. I go a litle overboard on the vegetarian thing. It was just a really really good meal.
Monastery gardens near the guesthouse. I'd love to actually stay in one of the convents. Yes, there are Buddhists convents as well. I met a nun. She had a shaved head and was dressed all in red.
Stelae at the monastery
the parking lot.
The historic district outside of the monastery.
woman sweeping up after the rain.
"Civilized" - I love it!
This really is hysterical. Go back and read some of the rules. I especially love the "do not force foreign tourists to take photos" edict.
This is the entire cheese section. All processed individually wrapped slices. They really do think that cheese is disgusting. There's lots of yogurt though!
OK. on first glance, this looks like standard chocolate cake with a cherry and a little mint. Except, look closer. That's not mint - it's cilantro; that's not a cherry - it's a cherry tomato; and that's not chocolate cake - it's red bean cake. Definitely "with Chinese Characteristics"
boat at the Leshan Buddha.
My fresh jasmine necklace. Cost: one yuan. Value in a society that doesn't often use deoderant: priceless.
I actually like the blur of this. It looks like an old painting to me.
The World's Largest Buddha at Leshan is right on the river. The best way to see him is to ride a boat past.
a pagoda on the hill near the buddha.
Dafo (his local name) is 71 meters tall and almost 1300 years old.
the path down the cliff to the feet of the Buddha.
the path back up the cliff. Those with a fear of heights might want to skip it and just go by boat.
just for perspective on how immense Dafo is.
This is supposed to look like a reclining Buddha. The promontory on the right is the head. Do you see the nose? The center one is his torso, and the hill on the left is his lower body. Uh, do you see where they placed that pagoda? Interesting.
another picture of a guy fishing. Yes, I realize that I have quite a few of these.
Everyone else went in out of the rain, but my group of Tim, Marisa, Maria, and Claudia had the guts (read stupidity) to stick it out.
dragon pond
Tiger Lair.
nice kitty.
The drinking pavillion.
I don't know how Buddha grew that belly on a fruititarian diet.
Lingyun temple
Bodhisattvas with a more modern appetite.
yum.
A Buddha tree. All of those ovals are the same image of Buddha.
this one.
incense. notice how the tree trunks continue the reach toward heaven.
touching Buddha's toe for luck. There are always a few places rubbed shiny on every statue/rock in China where people have touched it for luck over the centuries. If you look, you can see that most people touch the prayer beads. I preferred his feetsies!
talk to the hand.
Buddha from the top of the cliff. That mass of humanity on the other side is the line - the line which continues past where I am now. Cultivate patience.
view from the top.
I'm looking over Buddha's shoulder. Too bad he's not reading a newspaper.
Buddha's buns.
Still in line.
how does he look so peaceful while surrounded by the madding crowd?
the question is, is the 'm' or the 'o' the mistake? Murrrrrder...
that tree is hiding Buddha's earlobes, which are long. his ear is 7 meters long. I just like the expressio on his face. And is that lip liner he's wearing???
You can see the drainage holes in his robe. This ingenious system dates to the 8th century and is one of the reasons that Dafo is in such great condition.
cliff carvings. the heads were supposedly torn off during the Cultural Revolution.
really really cool to be there. Oh, the 9-turn cliff road also dates to the 8th century. Nice.
his fingers are 11 feet long.
Buddha needs a pedicure.
from between Buddha's legs.
Chengdu airport. That's Jaspar and Pauline at the front of the line. We are fated to keep running into each other all over China.
That's my backpack! So cool, I got to watch them load my pack. Bye bye, Chengdu. I love you!
