Chengdu,
China
September 3, 2004 - September 8, 2004
I flew from Guilin to Chengdu in an attempt to get to Tibet
before my visa expired.
Well, it turned out getting to Tibet is harder than just showing up at the airport.
I
had to extend my visa again, and hang out in Chengdu a few days while
my trip
to Tibet sorted itself out. You can not drive to Tibet from Chengdu.
Tibet is a
police state of China ever since China "liberated" it of it's "barbaric
ways" (not to
mention it's Dali Lama) in the 1970's. They know the rest of the worlds
feelings about
it's occupation of Tibet, so China makes it harder to visit. So,
as I was told Chengdu
doesn't offer much except some shopping and bars. It is a real city
with designer outlets
and all, but I wasn't in the mood, so I just saw the famous Panda Park,
and hung
out at the hostel with other travelers.
Video
Images
The Panda Park was pretty cool. Especially in the morning when
they actually move.
By the time I left in the late morning, they were all asleep with their butts
towards me...
I had to go down to Leshan for my visa extension.
They have the worlds biggest Buddha there. Cool,
but I didn't go to the trouble to go see it. This was
as close as I got from the opposite shore.