This town drinks more tea than any other on the planet, I just know it. Mom ad I spent our entire first day in Chengu walking all over the city, hitting every one of the numerous parks in our area and in every one we would end up sitting at a little table drinking tea among all the Mah Jiang players and reading Bill Bryson out loud to each other. It is a really nice town. We also checked out a wonderful Toaist Temple that was just gorgeous and green.

The big draw of Chengdu, as all who have been here would know, is the Panda Reserve outside of town. Even though it was raining in the morning, mom and I got our butts out there early to see the big bears while they were most active. They are surprising creatures, their back two feet are kind of pigeon toed and they just loll about eating and sleeping and eating some more. It was cool being so close to them, just a ditch separated us from them. We remained in the panda nursery for a longer time than anywhere else, watching the little balls of fur roll over each other and chew on each others' ears. They were so adorable! But of course they would be. There was also a racoon-like red panda enclosure that was pretty cool.

So apart from Pandas, parks and the best dumplings I"ve ever had the pleasure of biting into, Chengdu also holds the place in my heart for making me the most ill. I wasn't feeling too well after our foray into the Panda Reserve, but then mom and I went out for hot pot, not a good decision on the part of my stomach. Oops. Lets just hope it passes quickly, say, before I go try and hike a Mountain tomorrow....