After a very noisy and bumpy flight, we arrived back at the Traffic Inn. Bill's Dad left as early as he could in the morning (without saying goodbye of course). Bill and I spent the day visiting our favourite parts of Chengdu. First stop was the fish feeding park where Isaac was greeted by a chorus of croaking frogs. The park is beautiful. Thankfully the government hasn't started charging entrance fees for the parks yet so they're still the best place to relax and watch the world go by. We were accosted by a Chinese couple wanting to practice their English. It was just nice to escape sichuan hua! We stumbled upon a xinjiang restaurant next to the bus station. Yum yum ban fan. We navigated our way through the dust, scaffolding and corrugated iron to browse what temporarily remains of the antique market. No treasures to be found. Not wanting to get on a crowded bus during rush hour deadlock we walked towards Dragontown hostel where Bill used to work. It was a bit of a shock as the whole street has been made into an 'ancient street' and is unrecognisable. As we wandered around, Bill desperately trying to find parts he recognised, Bill's cousins phoned wanting to meet up for dinner. I feel much more comfortable around the younger generation of Bill's family. Out of all the restaurants in Chengdu Bill managed to find the shabbiest with no one else eating in it but it was pleasant nonetheless.
The next day we decided to go for another wander. This time to the area around Wanshu temple where we used to stay. 6 years ago this was the new 'ancient street.' However it has been completely and utterly spoilt. Traffic is now allowed, destroying all the carved stove pedestrian paving. The rest of it looks as if it hasn't been cared for since it was first built. Good old Chengdu can't even keep the nice bits nice! We stopped for dumplings that had probably been sitting there for 6 years. The owner asked if I was Isaac's grandmother which put me in a foul mood for the rest of the day! We headed back to Jinli street knowing that wouldn't be a disappointment. Jinli is where Isaac loves to go when he wants his photo taken (which is pretty much all of the time!) on the way back we knocked on the door of Bill's old Ayi who he hadn't seen for about 7 years. She had been very kind to Bill when he was working in the hotels. She hasn't changed! Ayi is a typical warmhearted and generous Chinese lady. We left laden with jewellery, snacks, toys and a hongbao :)
We planned to get the bus to Hongya but Bill's cousin ended up giving us a lift. We thought we were meeting him for a quick lunch but it turned out he'd planned a whole road trip to go cherry picking and then to Hongya (wonderful Chinese communication skills!) cherry picking sounded great. However when we eventually arrived in Pujiang, the Sichuan cherry capital, we just bought some! We drove all the way up the cherry mountains, past the hundreds of day trippers, parked the car and then just bought some from a farmer which we could've done in Chengdu! Little cherry babies in hand, the whole car full was only interested in the sacred cherries - driver looking at cherries rather than the road, Bill loosing all ability to think about anything apart from cherries, 1 year old baby in the back stood up on the seat, his Mum picking out pips for him and Isaac grumbling as he wasn't getting any! Stupid cherries! They're not even tasty cherries but the small, sour sort that we leave on the trees for the birds! The birds don't stand a chance here!! Thankfully we did arrive in Hongya in one piece. After eating food with Bill's Auntie we stayed in a lovely hotel and watched English films all night.