I can't believe it is our last weekend in Chengdu already! Today we hiked Mt. QingCheng, saw the Taoist temples, ate lunch at a restaurant in the country, toured and shopped at the silk factory, and then had the evening free to explore.
The morning started with a bus ride to Mt. QingCheng. We took a scenic hike up many sets of stairs to see the natural landscape and the Taoist temple worship places. Some of the hike proved difficult with the ice-covered stairs but luckily none of us slipped and fell! I especially liked the golden statues and colorful displays around the gods, and of course, we have lots of pictures to bring back to the US.
After the long hike/stair climb, our tour guide took us out to lunch at a restaurant in the countryside. We all had built up an appetite and were eager to dig in. Some Chinese dishes are starting to become familiar, like the sauteed greens, but we are still surprised with new ones all the time. It wasn't until after most of us had eaten that we realized, thanks to our tour guide's explanation, that pork liver, heart, and kidney was on the table!
Next, we took a trip about an hour and a half away to a silk factory. Students took advantage of the ride to catch up with a quick nap. At the factory, we took a tour where we learned how silk was made; starting with the silk worm's cacoon to seeing thousands of them be pulled into a blanket was amazing. The tour ended in the silk gift shop where everything from silk king-size comforters to silk coin purses were for sale. I got a silk pillow case that is so soft...it might make up for the hard beds we sleep on.
Our day ended gathering our bags off the tour bus and going back to the hotel. From there we split into smaller groups to explore the city and get dinner on our last Saturday night in Chengdu. The noodle place next to the hotel, hot-pot, Pete's Tex Mex, Dico's, or somewhere adventerous seem to be popular. With only six days left in this city, we have to make every moment count!
~Megan McCaffrey
comments:
There are currently no comments.
Post a Comment