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

Baby Pandas Playing

 

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.