I fall more in love with China each and every time I go to visit. This was my 6th visit, and it didn't disappoint.
I traveled with three friends to Beijing and Chengdu.
We did lots of awesome things, met some amazing people, ate a lot of delicious foods. I took a ton of pictures, so I am pretty much only posting the collages I put together. Otherwise this post would be way too long!
We left on Monday morning and arrived on Tuesday evening. We checked in to the hotel, went to eat a quick bite of dinner, and then came back and crashed for the night. On Wednesday, we wanted to be out and about as much as possible. We visited Tienanmen Square first, and then we went in to the Forbidden City. I've visited the outer courts of this each time I've come to China, but this time we were actually able to get tickets and go all the way in. It was amazing and beautiful! I noticed that yellow was used more and more the further back into the City we went. Walter explained that only the emperor could wear yellow, so I guess that's why it was used more heavily in his area. I'm so glad we got to explore further!
After exploring the Forbidden City, we ate a quick bite of lunch and then went to visit the Temple to Heaven. I love this space because it shows that at some point in its history, China was a monotheistic society. This is where emperors came to sacrifice and worship "the God above" aka Shun de. It's so beautiful and a lovely place to visit.
On Thursday we got up and flew to the city of Chengdu. We spent part of one day at the panda reserve here. Ahhh, so many cute pandas everywhere! Of course, I love the giant pandas, but we got to see two baby pandas. One of them was considered especially rare as he was more of a gray color than black. It appears his fur is darkening now though. We also saw several red pandas. One of them actually snuck out from his enclosure and walked right beside us on the sidewalk. Funny little guy!
A few miscellaneous pictures from the two cities.
One evening in Chengdu, we walked down a famous ally that is set to resemble old China. We went to a show while we were there which had several cool acts, like a ribbon dancer, calligrapher, magician, and mask changer. The magician actually had me come up and participate in his show which was really fun! I always love the mask changers though; they are amazing.
Chinese food, especially Sichuan style, is out of this world fantastic. So colorful, fresh, and delicious.
I couldn't resist all the fun potato chip flavors. I bought a few of them to bring home and try later!
I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to go on these trips. This was another great one!
