Now that we've moved on to Thailand, we thought we should catch up on our China blogs, starting with our unplanned detour to Chengdu. First off, the Panda Breeding Reserve in Chengdu puts the Beijing Zoo to shame (Stefanie nearly cried seeing some of the disgusting conditions at that zoo). The Breeding Reserve was like an entire zoo with every exhibit dedicated to pandas. I have never seen so many giant pandas, red pandas, and panda babies in one place before. The enclosures were large with plenty of bamboo forest to keep the animals busy eating all day, which is pretty much all they do other than sleep.

As we have mentioned before, the food in China has been truly amazing! The flavors have been delicious and the variety has been pleasantly surprising. Chengdu cuisine is no exception to this rule, and in fact it adds a whole new dimension to the Chinese variety. I am no dining connoisseur, but this seems to be accomplished with usage of the very hot and strangely numbing Sichuan peppers. We had the pleasure of dining with my friend Ryan Johnson and his wife Karin at a Chengdu "hot pot" restaurant, which is a lot like fondue. The combination of the super spicy Sichuan spices and the boiling hot sauces is enough to make anyone walk away from dinner sweating. I can't comprehend how the locals would be able to do this in the heat of the summer! Fortunately, I was exposed to enough spicy Mexican food while living in California to be able to handle most of the Chinese food here, but my guess is the average Canadian may have a hard time. Of course, that may change as we begin our travels in Thailand where I hear the curry dishes can be overwhelmingly spicy for westerners. I guess I will need to learn the Thai phrase for "NOT SPICY"!

Even though both the Panda Breeding Center and the tasty food were rewarding experiences to encounter on our detour to Chengdu, I have to say that the best part of Chengdu for me was seeing Ryan again after so many years. It was great catching up with him and meeting his wife Karin. Good times!

Jeff