Tag: nature

Day 23 – April 11th – Chengdu

April 11th was another warm day as we set off in our taxi to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Founded in 1987 by the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government. It started with six giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. By 2008, the research base had 124 panda births, and the captive panda population has grown to 83.

It’s aim is to “be a world-class research facility, conservation education center, and international educational tourism destination.”

Just after being dropped off by our taxi

And so all wearing our “Uncle Bob’s Scenic Tours” t-shirts we set out to see some pandas.

The main entrance

At the entrance we were again pleased to find that being over 60 we all had free entry and the only cost ws £1.50 each for the electric shuttle buggy to takw us to the main centre about a mile away, the park really is quite big.

Busy eating breakfast
Some of the paandas were quits shy
Each group of pandas were in their own buildings, with a large outdoor area
Baby was determined to climb the tree
got to the top in the end!
of course the coffee would be panda themed
Panda Art Museum

A little futher into the park we took a look into the art display.

Another couple of pavilions with red pandas
7-storey building made of bamboo
Time for a rest after all that eating
At the Golden Monkey Pavilion
I did manage to see one!
they were very shy
of course there were several souvenir shops
Diane couldn’t resist buying them!
Luckily for our feet there were escalators on the way out
Past the buses to where our taxi was waiting

This was a great day out but quite tiring, the park is about 1,000 acres roughly the size of 560 football pitches with many of the pavilions about a ten minute walk between them.

In the evening wqe took a short ride to the Anshun Bridge, one of the most photographed night spots in Chengdu, a traditional Chinese covered bridge over the Jin River which is fully lit at night with golden orange illumination, reflecting in the water.

Anshun bridge
View across the Jin River
Many bars line the riverbank

So we ened the day relaxing in one of the many bars near the bridge and watching the bridge come to life as dusk set in and the lights reflected beautifully in the river.

TTFN

Bibbley

Chongqing Part 3

The following day we set off for the Three Gorges Museum.

For those not familiar with the three gorges dam, which is officially known as Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project, this is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in central China, downstream of the Three Gorges.

The dam is 2.3km wide and 185m high. It is the world’s largest power station by installed capacity (22,500 MW) and became fully operational in 2012 and construction was fully completed in 2015.

On completion, the reservoir behind the dam flooded a total area of 632 km2 (156,000 acres) of land and over 1million people had to be relocated

Costing approximately $22.5billion the entire cost of the Three Gorges Dam was recovered by December 2020, only 8 years after starting electrical generation, a remarkable achievement.

The museum, free to enter for those over 60, as are most public sites in China, tells the story of the area that was flooded to form the reservoir and it’s construction and contains many interesting exhibits.

As we left the museum we were once again asked for photos with locals as we were pretty much the only non-Chinese people there.

On the opposite side of the square outside the museum stands the “Great Hall of the People”, properly called the “Chongqing People’s Auditorium”. This is a large hall used for meetings of the local communist party and other major public events and resembles the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Not sure wht these 2 were up to!

Returning to our hotel on the monorail we came across a local scenic street and decided to take a wander through it as it was downhill.

Plenty of cafes, souvenir shops and food stalls.

Anfd of course more photos with the locals.

Get your icecream in a souvenir mug to take home.

It was quite a warm day so we stopped for some refreshment on the way.

Later that evening back in our apartment I remembered our robot friend on the ground floor, charging himself up by the vending machine.

As you may remember I had installed an app called “WeChat” which is used for making payments and hailing taxis. There is also a facility for scanning QR codes and so I scanned the code on the small sign on our coffee table.

A few clicks later and I had ordered some Pringles and we waited with interest!

Five minutes later the doorbell rang and there was “Robbie the Robot” with my delivery, brought by him from the ground floor to our 43rd floor apartment, he can operate the lifts and is very polite when asking you to make room for him in the lift.

This was actually Robbie’s mate, “Miss Robbie”

On the way to deliver my Pringles

So ended our time in Chongqing which was an extremely interesting and memorable few days. At times we were very tired after walking around so much but it was totally worth it, if you get a chance to visit there then all 3 of us would totally recommend it.

Another day of travel tomorrow by high speed train to Guilin, I hope to see you all there.

TTFN

Bibbley