Chengdu

Loose translation according to my Parapro is "Three countries good place"

Tianfu, Chengdu Hotel, we stayed here three nights.

Small part of a very big hotel lobby.

Our hotel Room was very nice.

Bev and the Doorman

Shoe/Bag repair, my friend had his camera bag fixed by this gentleman for less than a dollar.

Bev took this picture of Tim

Great variety show we attended

Leah our tour guide telling us about the Sichuan dishes we were eating. Hot Very Very Spicy!

Street Vendor

Tim rubs the Happiness symbol to get some.
He was not the first one as you can see by the bright polished brass.

Taking home some rice

Very busy Outpatient Clinic

Contemplating a needed repair

Happy Chinese Family

Negotiating the price of oranges

This was a art auction that we happen to come upon

Manhole Cover

Ear cleaning

Pretty model

Daily staples for sale in a typical store

This grandmother let me take her picture

These are some pictures from our recent trip to Chengdu. Along with the Pandas we were able to see a little of the town when we were not on tour with our tour guide.

There is also a picture of Leah here. The dinner we had prior to the variety show. We ended up with a total of 13 different bowls of food for each of the 6 of us. The picture above is when we were about half way through the meal. Tim tried everything but could only eat some of about half of the dishes.

I am still very amazed that we were so fortunate to be in Chengdu a week before the earthquake. Wow

New Business Moves In

Click picture for larger view

So, this new building, that has been in a remodeling state ever since we came to China, is suppose to be a animation incubator type place (in total it is a couple blocks) to get China's cartoon and video business going. China put in a law that says that at least 50% of the TV and Movies with animation and cartoons must be created in China. They were all imports. We recently found out that the corner 1st floor business will be a Starbucks. This will make a great office spot for Tim. WiFi, coffee, westerners, and great stuff to watch on the street. Use your imagination its China anything can happen, just pull up a comfy chair, wait and watch.

Our other Starbucks is a block and a half away!

Chengdu

Wow I can't believe how devastating the earthquake was. I have attached a file from MSN that will allow you to see a graphic of all the quakes and there strength.

We were in Chengdu just a little over a week ago! QSI has a school there and we have heard that everyone is ok and the school suffered minimal damage. Our school is already organizing some fund raising and other efforts to help some of the people in the hardest hit areas.

The latest figures put the death toll near 10,000, that is sure to go higher.

Video of all the quakes. Click Here to View

Pandas at Chengdu

Our Friend Suzan got to hold a red panda

Bev was very excited to touch this live food machine

Two cubs hiding out

This mom is 22 years old, old for a Panda,
the child is an adoption from a set of twins.

Overview Map of the Research Center

One of the sites that Bev has wanted to see ever since we knew we were going to China was the Panda's of Chengdu. We were able to go to the largest research station in the world. It is entirely dedicated to the wellfare of the endangered giant panda. There is more information at this website. Chengdu Panda

The morning of our second day in Chengdu we left our hotel with our local guide, Leah. I renamed her. She introduced herself as June and told us her Chinese name. Then she told us that she did not like her English name at all. She gave it to herself since her birthday is in June. She thought it sounded like an old name. Her Chinese name has a part that sounds like Lee. I told her my name also had a Lee and I thought that Leah would be a very pretty girls name. Well she became Leah. She had new business cards printed with Leah on them which she gave us on the last day we had with her and we called her Leah for the three days we were with her. That is the second Chinese person I have named. What fun.

Ok so we traveled to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding center. We planned our arrival so that we would see Pandas eating and active which they are in the morning. We spent almost 3 hours there. It is like a large zoo with basically only one animal. The pandas spend much time in very natural habitats that are similar to the wild. They have a total of 87 pandas, that is a lot considering that only 1500 approx. are still alive in the world. Most all of the ones in the wild are in the province of Chendgu, the Sichuan Province.

Well the big highlight of the morning was when we came to one spot where they were allowing a very few, like maybe three or four, people actually go up to a Giant Panda and stand next to it, touching it with a gloved hand. Of course Bev had to do it and she was allowed to. I turned my camera over to one of the personnel and they took pictures. Her total time with the Panda was just under 2 minutes. They did get some cute pics. Bev said the hair was very course feeling, kind of like horse hair. Ok so your wondering why Bev got to do this and others did not? Well there was the donation to the Research Center!

Some of our friends were able to hold a Red Panda for a minute and get some pictures. The red Panda looks much more like a racoon than a Panda. Anyway we know have Panda pictures and stuff including a very informative video.

I will be adding a short video I shot, as soon as I can get it uploaded.

Spring Trip

Click to see a larger version

This past week we were able to take a vacation. We took the first 7 days of our 9 day vacation to travel in China. Our trip was with several other couples from the school. The map shows you the relative location of the areas that we toured. We flew from Shenhzen to Chengdu in the Sichuan province and spent 3 days there. We took a train to Chongqing, you may know it as Chung King, where we boarded a cruise on the Yangtze River over four days to Wuhan, then we flew home. We had drivers, tour guides and local contacts throughout the trip which made it very enjoyable. Our accomodations and meals were wonderful. We learned much about China.

I am going to show over the next few days some of the sites that we were able to see. Let me just say this was an amazing trip. We saw a very different China from our Shekou and Shenhzen home town.

LoWu Jewelry Floor

Bev in front of the shop where she has tailored clothing made,

Lots of choices in costume and semi-precious jewelry.

Beads of all kinds

Fresh water pearls

Bev checks out some jade beads

We visited LoWu again to have Bev's tailor make a dress for Tracy one of our daughter-n-law's. While we were there, we looked at some beeds, jade, and other fun jewelry pieces. Some is available for very reasonable prices. If exactly what you want is not in sight it can be produced very quickly!

Out to Spring Wine Tasting

Just before we left to go to the Wine tasting

Bev got us tickets to a wine and cheese party at the new Carrfour (French shopping chain store). It was sponsored by many newspapers and other local businesses. We met a number of expats there and other Chinese. We went with another teaching couple from the school that are from New Zealand. It turned out to be a Spring Wine Festival with music, and many different wines from all over the world represented by dealers sent from the countries represented. There were special prices and discounts available, and of course we ended up buying some bottles of a very nice French Bordeaux.