Braving China's National Day, China Monkeys, and Pandas, too! (Part 2)

After my monkey adventure, I hurried back to catch the bus back to Chengdu where I spent the rest of my time during the national day holiday, maybe not so much sightseeing as people watching, visiting the pandas, making friends along the way (not just monkey friends!), eating the best noodles of my life, and venturing to a so-called "ancient town" that was more like theme park with an ancient China theme, where I also just ended up people watching!

No time in China would be complete without visiting pandas!  I visited the Chengdu Panda Research Base.  You can read more about it here - Chengdu Panda Research Base

Strolling through the Tibetan quarter of Chengdu...there was no shortage of beads!

 This is the entrance to the famous Jinli Street in Chengdu.  Again, as it was the National Day holiday, there was no shortage of people either so here come the people watching pics (you know since if I tried to take a picture of anything else you wouldn't be able to see it anyways)...

 First up, this smiling lady in the heart shirt sporting China's outrageous new botanical trend - hair clips of plants, flowers, vegetables and butterflies!  This lady (and the one next to her) is modeling the hot sichuan pepper hair clip and one that I can't quite make out from the picture...

 China's fashionable* hair clip venders can be found on every corner...don't wait!* get yours today!*

 I made it in to see Jinli street.  I mean the people of Jinli street and on my way out the crowds looming outside were so large that the police has barricaded the entrance to the street to control the flow of people.

 Continuing on with my Chengdu people watching tour... This gentleman has chosen a beautiful red strawberry* and cute curly grass sprout* to complement his outfit for the day.  This trend is great for all ages! Men and women alike!*

Why stop with only one or two?!  Toadstool, gourd, and flower! The greater the variety the better!*

 The People's Park had directions for every "emergency" situation.  

(They forgot the "Emergency - Horrible Hair Trend" sign).

 Panoramic of the main square in Chengdu City

 Entrance to Huanglongxi Ancient Town near Chengdu - unfortunately tourism has robbed it of its "ancient" and it just seems more like a theme park with an "ancient" China theme.

 A better trend in my personal opinion.

 Candy & art

Huanglongxi Ancient Town

Next thing you will for sure witness if ever in China (and this one isn't just a trend) is the Chinese squat! They squat for pictures, just for a rest wherever they may be, and then of course there are the squat toilets. Anyways, they have it perfected and evidently find it quite comfortable.  Try to squat and keep both feet flat on the ground - I find it a challenge and not all that comfortable - but then again I am not Chinese.

 They also seemed to be so fascinated by this "ancient" town's fake river...probably fake rocks for that matter...but seeing as how densely populated the cities are here this experience was probably getting up close and personal with nature for them.

 Maybe she isn't from China or maybe like me she just doesn't find the two flat feet position to be very comfortable.  Anyways enough about rock squatting.

 This is the WenShu Monastery in Chengdu.  I really liked the street that it was on - full of street food!

 And these are my buddhist nun gal pal friends that I made friends with during my brief walk inside the monastery!  They were extremely friendly and despite their broken English (only one of them spoke a little bit of English) and my broken Chinese they invited me for tea!  Chengdu is known for it's tea houses so I welcomed the opportunity to sit and have an authentic tea experience with them!  There was plenty of miming that accompanied our conversation but it's amazing how you are able to connect with people despite a language barrier.  One of the nuns (at the bottom) happened to be from Guangzhou but the other two were visiting from Lhasa, Tibet and offered me an invitation to come have tea with them there if I ever make it out that way!

 Tea time! 茶 pronounced "chá" is the character for "tea" and it is one of the very few Chinese characters that I can read and write.

 Last chance! Grow your garden today! This guy is running a fabulous sale!*

*SARCASM!  I'm not a fan of this trend at all.  I just don't get it.  But, to each their own!

Til next time!