Today was a quiet day. After breakfast, Chris and I took another stroll around town. We found a shop run by the Miao people, who are famous for embroidery and metal work. The girls in the shop were all in traditional dress – really beautiful. There were tapestries of every size and the work was so intricate and amazing. The girl said her grandmother still could embroider like that, but the she was only able to do simpler pieces. Chris bought a lovely crane surrounded by a lot of design work. After shopping, we stopped at Minnie Mao and had a specialty, pineapple beer. It was really good, especially in that hot, humid weather. We had to catch a plane to Cheng Du at 11 PM, arrived at the hotel around 2 AM and went straight to bed.
Friday June 17
After not much sleep, we got up early to see the Giant Buddha of Leshan. It was a long bus ride there (about 2 ½ hours) but the climate here in Cheng Du is much less humid than Yangshuo and, with the windows in the van down, it was a nice ride. We arrived in Leshan and got in the 2 hour waiting line for the Buddha. The Buddha was built from 718 – 900 AD as the project of a traveling monk, who believed that doing so would combat the annual flooding that happened in the region. When a magistrate wanted to tax the project, the monk told him, “I would rather poke out my eyes than pay you”, the magistrate called his bluff. The monk asked for a tray and gouged out his own eyes and the magistrate was defeated. The monk died before the statue was finished. It is carved out of a mountainside and is the largest seated Buddha in the world, rising about 235 feet. We walked all the way down to his feet along the path the stone carvers had used which are now very steep steps, but I made it! When you get down to the bottom, of course you have to climb back up! Whew. I was very pooped and sweaty by the time I got back to the top, but I had a chance to rest up before we walked back to the van. Langer said the food in Leshan was “horrible!”, so we drove back to Cheng Du for a traditional dinner.
The food in Cheng Du is Sichuan and very spicy, but Langer ordered some mild stuff for us. It was a local spot – we were the only Westerners in the place. We had pork and seaweed (delicious!), chicken and mushroom, green beans, black mushroom with walnuts and rice. It was good, but rather bland. I guess you get one or the other, spice wise. There was also a small dish of chopped up cucumber and chilies, so I tried one piece. It about took my head off. I can’t imagine what the regular dishes taste like.
After dinner, Chris and I went for a stroll through the city and ended up, wouldn’t you know, in the shopping district. We went from stall to stall, looking at flip flops, t shirts, hair bands and bows, cheap jewelry and wigs (!). It was fantastic! We stopped to get an ice cream and ended up in Starbucks, had a cappuccino and headed back to the hotel.
More photos:
http://public.fotki.com/mjlang4952/2011-06-17-china/
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