21 hours in Chengdu

More from Peter (the Chinese-only version of blogger means we don't know how to set up his own account)

After the massive hotpot lunch in ChongQing, we took a short commuter flight to Chengdu. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, the most populous province in China. Chengdu is famous for its food and is known for spicy foods. Its also famous for teahouses where denizens sit and talk, play cards or mahjong, and drink tea. We arrived in Chengdu around 3:30 in the afternoon and had a flight to Lhasa, Tibet the next day at 1pm. By the time we reached our hotel and checked in and picked up our travel docs for Tibet it was already 5pm.

We decided to take in a Sichuan opera performance. We manouevered ourselves over to the opera house with the aid of a map that inconveniently omitted about half the streets. After a long walk we found the place and were ready for a cup of tea. The teahouses in the nearby park were closed but there was a "Ten Fu's Teastore" nearby where we could get tea. They have all manner of teas in all manner of prices. We spent an hour communicating (talking is too generous a word) with our hostess who spoke a little English, but infinitely more than our Chinese - it was a lot of fun. Ten Fu's does snacks that are made with tea and are delicious so after trying several we left the shop with a few more sacks and a pack of tea. I will need to hire a mule. Vera says I am the mule.

The opera performance was fabulous and I'm now hooked on all the face changing, fire breathing, acrobatics, music (lots of cymbals), amazing costumes, and of course the singing. Vera was indulgent, but I think if I buy a 10 DVD compilation of Sichuan opera I'll be watching on my own. We watched the performance under an open air tent and there was tea on small tables in front of our seats. The tea cups had tea leaves inside (live tea as my grandmother would say) and the tea ladies would come by and top you up with hot water. The tea ladies used these kettles that were more like flower watering cans with long, long spots. They would stand about 4 feet away and send an accurate stream into the cup. Once you convinced yourself that you weren't going to get a lapful of scalding water it was fun to behold.

We took a cab back to the hotel and were still full from the ChongQing hotpot that we skipped dinner. Cabs in china deserve a special post. The skill of the drivers is impressive as they weave between cyclists, pedestrians, buses, other cars. Fortunately, life in Boston has provided the necessary sang froid to make the journeys relaxing.

In the morning we got up early and went out in search of a coffee shop. Unfortunately none were open before 8am and we were on a mission to see the giant pandas. Chengdu has a research base for pandas on its outskirts. We cabbed out there and wandered round the grounds - a delightful respite from the smog of the city. Early morning is a good time for viewing as this is when the pandas feed. We say all sorts of pandas - many having a good nosh on bamboo. Then we saw some young panda cubs that were very playful. Vera saturated the memory card of the camera. Unfortunately we can't seem to find a decent internet connection (everything is very slow) so I don't know when we will post pictures. We were anxious to get back to the hotel to collect our bags and make the flight but the panda center is on the outskirts of town and there weren't any cabs around. We hired a car from a tout outside the center. He was standing in front of a new black Audi A6 and then after we negotiated a price he went to get his car which was not quite an A6. Buyer beware. Well, it got us there.

Back at the hotel, we had enough time for a coffee and the coffee shop in the hotel (Sheraton) looked quite reasonable based on the prices of the pastries in the window. I ordered a coffee and Vera got a latte and then we got the bill. Vera's 45 RMB = $6 latte. Wow. New York prices in Chengdu. Taxi to the airport and now we're at 3600 meters (~11,000 feet) in Lhasa.