Xindu | We are at staying in a developing suburb that is about an hour from the center of downtown. The campus we are working on is modeled after Virginia Tech. The campus is a part of a development that contains housing, retail space and tall buildings that will contain hotels and businesses. The area itself is a far cry from the bustling cities on the east coast. A walk into the center of town has streets lined with convenience stores and small restaurants. The only Americanized food is a CFC, a mock KFC. There seems to be constant building around the town with large developments clustering towards the subway extensions that will be completed in 2020 (Chengdu has 2 lines right now but will have 20 soon). |
Chengdu | The city is about a 30 minute drive and 10 minute subway to downtown. Over the past few weekends we have been able to visit many different places and experience the cities culture... we also went to the clubs and I sprained my ankle, but that's a different story! |
IFS Mall Chengdu is known as an easy going city with less money than the coastal cities, but it also has the highest spending on luxury goods in China. This panda is on top of a mall with every store from Christian Louis Buitton to Tiffanys. We didn't buy anything, but we did go to the bowling alley (similar to pinstripes) and sit in the massage chairs for a while! We also splurged on luxury Cheeseburgers (sweet and sour sauce for fries?) and a 3L beer tower! | Giant Panda Research Base We were able to spend Easter looking at Pandas at the research base. There are just over 1600 believed to be wild still and the Chinese government works closely with zoos all over the world to try to keep this breed going. The day before we went there was a "world record" set by two pandas who mated for 18 minutes (the average is 30 seconds to 5 minutes) apparently the article in the Chinese newspaper joked that it was longer than the "average American male"... LOL! Dialogue in the Dark This was one of my favorite activities that we have done! Dialogue in the Dark is a blind simulation that allows people with "normal" vision to be in a completely dark space and to use your senses to get an understanding of where you are. We went to a beach, grocery store, made our way across bridges and felt statues to identify what it was. The coolest part was that our guide was a man who was visually impaired and he told us about how he can sense feelings and is very good with spatial recognition. |
Wide and Narrow Alley These quaint little alleys have little boutiques where you can go shopping, restaurants and ancient homes. The alleys, which were built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, combine a modern feel with ancient architecture. We had tons of fun looking at the little shops and getting some souvenirs for people back home (don't get too excited). It was a really nice clean area and a great way to start our day in the city! |
Qingcheng Mountain
From a memory book Road Underwheel created for us: "65 km away from Chengdu, Qingcheng Mountian is one of the ancient cradles of Daoism. The mountain has numerous Daoist temples and sites along the paths to its peak. The area is green all year round and is known for its secluded tranquility. Mt Qincheng is located at the Dujiangyan scenery spot of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It is famous mountain of Taoism. Surrounded by countless peaks and densely covered by ancient trees whose branches reach for the sky. The mountain includes two parts- the anterior Mt Qingcheng and the posterior Mt Qingcheng. The anterior mountain is famous for its beautiful scenery and numerous cultural and historic sites; while the posterior mountain is noted for its paradisical scenery, primitive and brilliant, gorgeous and mysterious" We even got fish pedicures after the hike! | |
Leshan | This last weekend we were able to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha. The Buddha is 71 meters tall and built out of stone in the Tang Dynasty. It sits at the meeting point of three rivers; Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in southern China with Mount Emei in the distance. This is the largest Buddha statue in the world and is considered the largest "pre-modern" statue in existence. Leshan itself has over 3000 years of history but is considered a modern city as much of the developments are larger buildings similar to what would be built in a large city. |