on the MagLev high speed train
entrance to Qintao street in Chengdu - where my hotel was.
park near my hotel - i liked the statue on the railing.
this guy had a heavy load of paint canisters or something...
pagoda at Du Fu cottage park
Du Fu cottage park
lots of bamboo
the actual Du Fu cottage... well... a not-so-stellar representation of it.
at Du Fu cottage
artist at the park
gettin' artsy.
street musician on a busy road
local restaurant engaging employees in group dance - pretty common from what i can tell
Hot Pot: before
indescribably spicy...
Hot Pot: the aftermath
at the Sichuan opera - these guys know how to pour tea!
Sichuan opera
infant pandas in a cage at the Chengdu panda reserve
breakfast! notice how he is hoarding the bamboo on his belly.
more pandas! i could have watched these guys all day.
chowing down
me w/ the pandas at meal time!
lazing around
a lonely breakfast for this one
lakeside at the panda reserve. tea tables in the distance.
"chain store"
store selling leather goods - mostly cowboy style! named "bull heaven."
Jinli street. very touristy, as evidenced by the Starbucks, which serves up lots of green tea fusion drinks.
local craftsman on Jinli street, taking a lunch break.
close-up of blown sugar animals
another craftsman on Jinli street, making some kind of spun sugar lollipop.
opera house at Jinli street... site of my tea break. it was pouring.
view from the cheap seats... where i hung out for quite a while, waiting out the rain.
lighting incense at Wuhou temple, dedicated to the Three Kingdoms.
artsy wall designs.
Wuhou temple
typical local attire.
fancy wood carvings
King Liu Bei's mausoleum (the walkway surrounded the entire thing - on the right)
cool tree trunk
easy to get lost around here
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street food! these ladies were making steamed cakes and music, all at the same time...
who knows what this stuff was...
my lunch. spicy again!
processing silk
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reeky what??
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some kind of stringy peanut sugar snack that i watched being made. very strange consistency!
more restaurant team building
grandson & grandfather playing mah jong outside their shop
abacus at the post office!
street food - usually quite tasty...
entrance to my hotel's historical street
warning in my bathroom
my hotel's courtyard at night
walk up to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha
me and a really big Buddha at Leshan
bigger than he looks - the stairs from the head to the feet are quite perilous in the rain!
those are his toes in front. they were taller than me.
carving black wood - a well-known Sichuan craft. (basically petrified wood.)
intricate black wood carving
queen of the world, at the top of Emeishan!
me & my new friend Ni Ni at Emeishan (Buddist temples behind us)
view from top of Emeishan
Monkey Mountain (part of Emeishan), "where man and beast coexist"
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this guy grabbed my water when i was taking the picture! notice my grip on the bottle...
the monkey with his spoils
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the scenery reminded me of something out of the Appalachians...
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