Devon Winrick

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December 20th - Chengdu, Street Breakfast, Pandas, Buddhist Shrine, Sweet Water Noodles

On the 20th our main goal was to see the Pandas in Chengdu, for which it is known.

We started the day with some coffee and breakfast.

This coffee place has cubicals where you can pickup your order, if you ordered from the app.
My breakfast was about $0.30, made on the street in front of me, and was amazing..
Next door we got some steamed buns.

...and so - we taxi'd to the zoo!

Here's the map you'll find near the entrance.

To actually get up into the zoo, you can walk, or you can take a ride. We opted for the ride, which we had to wait in line for around 30 minutes to get on.

A bridge in the Zoo.
One of the first pandas I saw. They aren't the most exciting creatures to watch.
Another sleeping panda....
Luckily, we were going down.
More sleeping pandas...
Don't you hate it when you can't get comfortable under your tire?
Happy Devon.
This Peacock was strolling around.
One of the Red Pandas.
Can't read Chinese, but I get the idea.
The last Pandas we'd see before leaving.

After this, we'd send some post cards to family, which I didn't take any pictures of.

So now we'll hitch a ride back to downtown Chengdu.

A mix of VW Jetta and Chinese Electric Taxis.

Our next stop would be the Buddhist Shrine.

I found this to be much more interesting than the Pandas. The shrines are always very peaceful and quiet, which I enjoy.

Before the Shrine, we grabbed some lunch in downtown Chengdu. I don't have any pictures of this adventure - we were just focused on finding food. The trouble was this was not summer time, or noon. Most of the restaurants were very "open" - and it was cold, with a breeze. Some had heat but because it wasn't lunch, the heat wasn't on. We walked block to block trying to find a restaurant. Inside one that seemed promising, we quickly realized we could smell the sewer (remember - lack of P-traps?) in the dining area. Our next stop seemed warm and promising, however once we sat down it became apparent that the warmth was simply from a small heater at the receptionist's desk...

We ended up eating, but cold in a completely empty restaurant around 1pm.

So finding lunch was a bust. Onto the Shrine.

One of the first areas you see when entering the Shrine.
There are so many candles here that walking around this little building makes you quite warm.
Little trees.
This shrine has t e c h n o l o g y.
I'm not sure what this is for. Breaking down doors? :)
The workers were spending a lot of time making sure the position of this statue was right.
The monks were having a great time playing ping-pong.
In one of the buildings of the shrine, this bell hangs.
I guess if you scan the QR code, you'll learn about this display. I didn't scan it.
Some pointy rocks that you can walk through.
I love these kinds of arches.
Shrine kitty.
A quick pano of a peaceful area in the shrine.
This little pond is neat, but you can see it's cracked and starting to leak...
It's an octopus. Obviously.
A little pavilion, with some homemade bamboo chairs.
We went back to the area with the candles and I snapped some pictures. A surprising amount of warmth comes from the candles.

So, that's the Buddhist shrine in downtown Chengdu. Now we go find food.

Across the street is a famous shop that sells "sweet water noodles". I'll be honest - at first I turned my nose up at it. Couldn't we find something better to eat than just noodles?

I ate two bowls.

I'd go back just for this.

The noodles are very thick, made right in the restaurant. The combined texture and taste is amazing. From what I remember, you could see the kitchen very clearly from any seat in the small restaurant, and the cooks were busy working with long strands of the thick noodles.

We found another famous nearby food vendor, which its sign said they had been open for 25 years.

The signs says "the line continues for 25 years".

At this point we wanted to head back to our hotel, but traffic was very bad. So we found somewhere to rest until we could get an "uber".

We stopped at a small tea shop while waiting for the traffic to calm.
Once back at our hotel, I saw this vehicle which looks like it had a rough life, and been vandalized.

Once back to the area around our hotel we went to explore the nearby streets.

One of the things I found fascinating was this street made of steel.

This street was covered in thick steel plate for large construction vehicles.
Here's a vehicle trekking the steel-covered road. Looks to be a bit teeth rattling.

Of course, it was done to move heavy things. But it's just not something I'd seen before, at least not at this scale.

A bakery near our hotel, at night. Thisd is one of the interesting things about the night life in China - things you might not expect to be are open late.

Copyright Devon Winrick