April
15, Sunday
We leave Lhasa fairly early and are transferred by bus back to the airport for our flight to Chengdu.
Driving out to the airport
Again some beautifully different architecture
And we are off into the skies
Our last look at one of the valleys in Tibet
and a last view of the Himalayas
We are met at the Chengdu airport by another local guide, a young lady named Sammy. Well no, that’s not really her Chinese name, but she uses Sammy with the tourists. First order of business is to get settled at the hotel and then go out for lunch at yet another good restaurant. I’m definitely putting the pounds back on here !
Chengdu streets
My room at the Sofitel Wanda Hotel
The views from my room
We visit the People’s Park where we admire the gardens and the tea houses. It is Sunday and the park is filled with locals taking in a beautiful spring day.
A vender selling the smallest pineapples I've ever seen. The smell devine !
People's park
Ok, this is funny. These are advertisements for parents looking either for a bride for their son, or a husband for their daughter. The parents are actually hanging around, checking out potential people who are reading the adds and taking notes.
There must be at least 100 of these around one particular area in the park.
Performances in the park. The one above are singers, the one below are dancers
Check out the little bum !
Baby bums: It is the custom in many parts of China (we saw them everywhere !) to have an open slit in baby & toddler clothing, to make it easier for them to pee or poop. They simply squat down and do their business without any fuss wherever appropriate. It was too cute to see all these baby bottoms everywhere. Parents holding them in their arms did not seem to fear getting wet or soiled, so obviously they are trained at a very young age.
One of the tea houses.
An entire section for bonsais ! Absolutely breathtaking.
There parks are all incredibly beautiful and very well used.
A few youngsters with their grand-mother, in the park for the day.
We are staying at the Sofitel Wanda Hotel in Chengdu, another 5 star establishment. We are given time to relax at the hotel and go to a restaurant next door to the hotel for a “Hot Pot” Dinner. Something like a fondue type meal where you cook your own meat and vegetables in a broth.
Back to Hotel for an early evening to catch up on emails while I have the time.
Notes I’ve accumulated during my trip in China:
Ginseng (genseng) tea is good for your libido ! as well as for cleansing the kidneys and improving our energy levels. It will quench your thirst, protect our throats, enhance immunity and prevent colds.
Jasmine tea will clean your liver and brighten your eyes. It is especially good for wine drinkers (but it doesn’t say why !). After drinking the tea you can apply the leaves around your eyes to reduce tiredness. “It’s good for the near-sight people”.
Lychee black tea can prevent anemia and improve blood circulation. “Add lemon is good for digestion. Use in summer to make ice tea; it will scatter heat.”
There were a total of 14 Dynasties in China between 2000 BC and 2000 AD. China has 4000 years of written history ! The Tang Dynasty (608 to 907 AD) is considered to be the most prosperous
The phoenix depicts a girl/woman, the dragon depicts a boy/man. We see these in many decorations; mostly dragons.
Chinese writings: there are over 20,000 characters, but you only need about 5,000 for good communication. Children learn about 400 characters by the time they are in grade 3, or about 9 years old. I'd love to see North American kids try to do that !
Flowering tree = Paulownia (clusters of bells, in a bell shape). Also known as Empress or Princess Tree or foxglove tree. I'd been trying to find this one out for some time now. At some point I'll print a picture of these.
In China, retirement age for women is 55, for men it is 60. Maternity leave is for 4 months and grand-parents
usually assist in taking care of children while parents work. Because of the strict "one child" policy, China's population is steadily decreasing, but they will be facing the same problem that we have with all the baby boomers retiring and not enough young people to take over and support the tax base.
China is a Socialist country and uses Market Economy.
In the countryside, if you have a boy, he is expected to stay home even when he marries. If you have a girl (1 child rule) she marries and leaves to go live with his parents. The boy’s parents have someone to take care of them in their old age, but the girl’s parents do not! If you work things out, the one child family rule means that Chinese children have no uncles, aunts or cousins. How sad is that ! In my family, I had 9 uncles & aunts + their spouses, 17 cousins on my mother’s side of the family and 17 on my father’s side. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without them. How sad for Chinese families.
My Chinese is improving. This is all phonetically sounded: Nee-how (Hello), see-ay see-ay (you have to pronounce these fast and close together = Thank You):, boo see-ay (welcome), boo (no) {so maybe boo see-ay means no thanks required !} Unfortunately I can’t show you the intonations required. Example: “ma” means mother, horse, angry and a fourth word I forget. Depending on the intonation, you get a different meaning. Yikes ! you would not want to call your mother a horse; you could be in BIG trouble !
Chinese jokes: (1) There are mushrooms waiting to be served in a bar but they are told: “We don’t serve mushrooms, only humans” because we are funghis (fun guys). Another case of something “lost in translation”. (2) Why can’t a bicycle stand up by itself? Because it is “two tired ". (3) My husband is an archeologist; the older I get, the more interested he is in me.
George came up with this in French, not sure where it is from: “Partir c’est mourrir un peu. Mourrir c’est partir pour toujours.” If anyone knows the exact saying, or its origin, please let me know.
View of Chengdu, from a different window of the hotel
We leave Lhasa fairly early and are transferred by bus back to the airport for our flight to Chengdu.
Again some beautifully different architecture
And we are off into the skies
Our last look at one of the valleys in Tibet
and a last view of the HimalayasWe are met at the Chengdu airport by another local guide, a young lady named Sammy. Well no, that’s not really her Chinese name, but she uses Sammy with the tourists. First order of business is to get settled at the hotel and then go out for lunch at yet another good restaurant. I’m definitely putting the pounds back on here !
Chengdu streets
My room at the Sofitel Wanda Hotel
The views from my room
A vender selling the smallest pineapples I've ever seen. The smell devine !
Ok, this is funny. These are advertisements for parents looking either for a bride for their son, or a husband for their daughter. The parents are actually hanging around, checking out potential people who are reading the adds and taking notes.
There must be at least 100 of these around one particular area in the park.
Performances in the park. The one above are singers, the one below are dancers
Check out the little bum !Baby bums: It is the custom in many parts of China (we saw them everywhere !) to have an open slit in baby & toddler clothing, to make it easier for them to pee or poop. They simply squat down and do their business without any fuss wherever appropriate. It was too cute to see all these baby bottoms everywhere. Parents holding them in their arms did not seem to fear getting wet or soiled, so obviously they are trained at a very young age.
One of the tea houses.
An entire section for bonsais ! Absolutely breathtaking.
There parks are all incredibly beautiful and very well used.
A few youngsters with their grand-mother, in the park for the day.We are staying at the Sofitel Wanda Hotel in Chengdu, another 5 star establishment. We are given time to relax at the hotel and go to a restaurant next door to the hotel for a “Hot Pot” Dinner. Something like a fondue type meal where you cook your own meat and vegetables in a broth.
Back to Hotel for an early evening to catch up on emails while I have the time.
Notes I’ve accumulated during my trip in China:
Ginseng (genseng) tea is good for your libido ! as well as for cleansing the kidneys and improving our energy levels. It will quench your thirst, protect our throats, enhance immunity and prevent colds.
Jasmine tea will clean your liver and brighten your eyes. It is especially good for wine drinkers (but it doesn’t say why !). After drinking the tea you can apply the leaves around your eyes to reduce tiredness. “It’s good for the near-sight people”.
Lychee black tea can prevent anemia and improve blood circulation. “Add lemon is good for digestion. Use in summer to make ice tea; it will scatter heat.”
There were a total of 14 Dynasties in China between 2000 BC and 2000 AD. China has 4000 years of written history ! The Tang Dynasty (608 to 907 AD) is considered to be the most prosperous
The phoenix depicts a girl/woman, the dragon depicts a boy/man. We see these in many decorations; mostly dragons.
Chinese writings: there are over 20,000 characters, but you only need about 5,000 for good communication. Children learn about 400 characters by the time they are in grade 3, or about 9 years old. I'd love to see North American kids try to do that !
Flowering tree = Paulownia (clusters of bells, in a bell shape). Also known as Empress or Princess Tree or foxglove tree. I'd been trying to find this one out for some time now. At some point I'll print a picture of these.
China is a Socialist country and uses Market Economy.
In the countryside, if you have a boy, he is expected to stay home even when he marries. If you have a girl (1 child rule) she marries and leaves to go live with his parents. The boy’s parents have someone to take care of them in their old age, but the girl’s parents do not! If you work things out, the one child family rule means that Chinese children have no uncles, aunts or cousins. How sad is that ! In my family, I had 9 uncles & aunts + their spouses, 17 cousins on my mother’s side of the family and 17 on my father’s side. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without them. How sad for Chinese families.
My Chinese is improving. This is all phonetically sounded: Nee-how (Hello), see-ay see-ay (you have to pronounce these fast and close together = Thank You):, boo see-ay (welcome), boo (no) {so maybe boo see-ay means no thanks required !} Unfortunately I can’t show you the intonations required. Example: “ma” means mother, horse, angry and a fourth word I forget. Depending on the intonation, you get a different meaning. Yikes ! you would not want to call your mother a horse; you could be in BIG trouble !
Chinese jokes: (1) There are mushrooms waiting to be served in a bar but they are told: “We don’t serve mushrooms, only humans” because we are funghis (fun guys). Another case of something “lost in translation”. (2) Why can’t a bicycle stand up by itself? Because it is “two tired ". (3) My husband is an archeologist; the older I get, the more interested he is in me.
George came up with this in French, not sure where it is from: “Partir c’est mourrir un peu. Mourrir c’est partir pour toujours.” If anyone knows the exact saying, or its origin, please let me know.
View of Chengdu, from a different window of the hotel
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