Travel Album China



	China - Chengdu, Chongqing

		Chengdu, Sichuan 四川成都 The icon that intrigues me in the central China must be China's national treasure - Panda. They are such adorable!!! There are less than 2,000 of them in this world. Then I've seen 30+ of them today. 2016.2.22 Definitely a day to remember. 从熊猫的生活中可以吾出人生道理：如果快，是为了活下来那么慢，才能细味到人生的乐趣 It was supposed to be a two days work trip to Chengdu. Then I extended the stay over the weekend to tour around the area. Guess it is officially "work-life" balance. Haha <- This cutie looked right into the camera as my cell phone is light green... must think it is food... haha
	The panda specie dates back to 8 millions years. Other animals that lived at that time included mammal elephant, toothed cat, Peking man. Pandas do deserved to be called the living fossil.	Pandas have small stomach and weak digestive system so they keep on eating (mainly bamboo) and sleeping for digestion. They use usually 17 out of 24 hours to digest food.
	Observing pandas do need patience as they mainly just sleep and eat then sleep and eat. Perhaps, eat, sleep and hide is the secret keeping the panda specie lasting for millions of years.	I need to slow down my life pace to enjoy these beauties. So I stayed in the park for over 6 hours which usually can be completed in 2.
	Pandas are naturally solitary animals. It's when they are kids they play and hang out with peers.	Pandas have weak back legs. The yellow corn-like stuff is their poo-poo.

	Happily to see so many pandas all at once.
	Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. RMB58 admission.	As I went there alone, postcards are my way to share the panda joy with others.

	Wuhouci 武侯祠 - It's after I arrived Chengdu I realized the city is full of Chinese historical significance! It's the State of Shu 蜀国 of the Three Kingdoms 三国.
	HuiLing - Mansoleum of Emperor Liu Bei 惠陵 - 刘备之墓	It is a 12 meters tall circular dome enclosed by a 180m long wall. Walking around the dome requires a few minutes. In August 223 AD, Liu Bei was buried here, and later along with his two wives.

	SanYi Temple 三义庙 - the temple was constructed in 1662-1722 in memory of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who famously swore to become brothers in a peach garden.
	Zhang Fei 张飞，Liu Bei 刘备，Guan Yu 关羽
	Home of Kong Ming 孔明苑 - it's a replica tho.	Lantern of Kong Ming 挥师北伐花灯
	It was Chinese Valentine's Day 正月十五 in Chengdu, so I joined the famous Chengdu Festive Gala 成都大庙会. Of course, lantern is everywhere for display.

	Traditional Chinese dance performance	Ukraine folk dance performance

	Kuang-Zhai Alley 宽窄巷子 - consists of Kuan Alley 宽巷子 and Zhai Alley 窄巷子. Old Chengdu walking streets, while they are quite modernized and touristy now.

	圣旨	龙园

Chongqing 重庆

After one week from starting my new job, I was sent to Chongqing for a business trip. While I was alone, I felt melancholy. But eventually I know I gotta entertain myself, so I visited the old Chongqing area, walked around the city with a curious mind. Hey, it's my first time here. Gotta enjoy life, enjoy life's journey. Jan. 2016

HongYa Cave 洪崖洞 locates right at the city center of Chongqing. As Chongqing was built on a cliff, the Hongya Cave complex was erected right at the cliff beside JiaLing River 嘉陵江

The complex is 12 storey tall, full of cafes, eateries and jewellery shops. It is also where so-called a Japanese anime Ponyo 崖上的波儿 took some scenes.

Here is the real Hongya Cave. As the area becoming more touristy, the cave has become more man made with fountain and bridge. Well, it's a tourist point. Haha

Sipping a cup of coffee while listening to live piano performance. It's tranquility and serenity. Definitely I was seizing the moment. 活在当下

	Ciqikou 磁器口 is an old Chongqing street full of traditional eateries and cafe. Quite a unique environment.
	In late January 2016, the temperature in the whole China plummeted. It was the first day in 20 years which Chongqing city snows. Glad I was there witnessing the moment.
	Freshly made artistic dragon and phoenix malt sugar candy 龙凤蜜牙糖	Dragon beard candy
		Purple yam noodle
	Freshly made CQ traditional crispy twisted biscuit	Boutique cafe with live singing and guitar performance

	Chongqing locates where the famous Yangtze River 长江 and Jialing River 嘉陵江 intersect. The water at Yangtze River had travelled thousand miles before arriving CQ and thus became muddy. The water from Jialing River is fresher and is considered the nurturing mother of CQ.
	The ancient map of the walled CQ city. CQ is built on a cliff, so all the roads are irregular going up the hill.	Overlooking where the rivers meet is the ChaoTianMen 朝天门 pier.
	Boat ride to tour two rivers	My white shoes became dirty after day of touring
	As land is scarce at the heart of CQ, going vertical is the solution for housing and business. It's a shocking scene that buildings are big and tall. Living space and traffics are then crowd and congested.	People's Liberation Monument 解放碑. CQ has its share of recent Chinese history as it had been the temporary capital of Republic of China, prior to becoming a part of People's Republic of China.
	Deng Xiaoping 邓小平 - amongst the most significant revolution leader of the PRC, whom liberalized CQ and the south-eastern China.	The CQ area has kept much of the history of the red revolution of the communist party of the PRC. It's all a part of the Chinese history.
	Chongqing People's Auditorium 重庆市人民大礼堂. Chongqing is a directly controlled municipally of China. It played a significant part in the recent Chinese history. Definitely it deserves a special status and a grand governmental meeting hall.
	Opposite of the auditorium is the Three Gorges Museum 三峡博物馆. This water dam had gone through around 100 years of planning with migration of 1.3 million population. It is definitely amongst the top engineering projects in the history of China.
	Buddhist Statues in the Niche (618-907 AD) - Since these carvings would be 135m under the water reservoir of the Three Gorges dam, these carvings along with other artefacts were relocated to this museum.
	Writing Chinese calligraphy with a bloom at the auditorium square	Spinning gyroscope with a whip. Appreciating life's little aspects is perhaps the path to happiness.

	Wulong Karst Region 武龙喀斯特区 Wulong Sky Hole and Three Bridges 武隆天坑三桥 This area used to be under the sea. The river flow had created valley between the cliffs and tunnel inside the cliff wall. Transformer the movie had its scenes taken from here as well.
	Down at the valley, if you look up sheltered by rocks, up above you is the natural bridge 天桥.	Tianlong Bridge 天龙桥 is amongst the three natural bridges that has the proper rectangle beam of a bridge. The bridge is 135m tall. Humans are those tiny little dots hiking through the hole under the bridge.
	If you look up which you are exposed to the sky, you are under the sky hole 天坑.
	Walking down to the valley surrounded by cliffs.	Underneath the bridge is TianFu Inn 天福驿馆
	Another point of view to look at the valley is top down approach from glass platform. haha	My first ever glass bridge experience. I couldn't look down for the first few minutes. haha
	LongShuiXia Fissure 龙水峡地缝 This area is where waterfalls created cracks or fissures 地缝 on the earth. Down you see the pink circle is an outdoor umbrella. Humans are just the tiny dots beside it.
	Here now we hike down the crack.
	Magnificent view from the crack of the earth	Mineral concentrated river sealed the crack
	River flow also cracked the earth into a cave. Here is the Cold Cave of Dragon 蛟龙寒窟	The mineral water created flowstones. Here is the Crane in Shower 仙鹤淋浴

	I am here for business. Somehow they booked me a 5 stars at the heart of CBD. cool	Nice view. Smog view. Anyhow, a view of Yangtze River.
	CBD street under light ornaments during CNY	Explored a local club. What a performance.
	Meeting 熊律师 from CQ for famous hotpot at the famous 大队长. It's great to meet friends and understand more of CQ from a local.	We did have a feast of spicy hotpot with famous local dishes. I did got addicted to spicy food. Yet I got so heatty afterward.

Bean paste noodle 豆酱面

Spicy boiled fish 水煮鱼

Numbing spicy pot 麻辣火锅

	Spicy boiled rabbit 水煮兔	Spicy grilled fish 辣鱼
	CQ is famous for rabbit head delicacy. Eat the brain and cheek.	Eating rabbit heads cost more than having rabbit body.
	Some small non-fancy eateries actually have the most delicious food. I'd had the same set of dishes for 4 times at 吴炒手. The numbing lotus root, spicy chicken, sugar marinated pork, fried dumplings.	水煮鱼，夫妻肺片. What I really miss in CQ and CD is the numbing spicy food. I really got addicted as it enriches the taste buds of my tongue.