Moon Festival National day and Chengdu!

So after a week in Hong Kong and a week in Chengdu I must say I am very happy to be home.  However my experiences these past couple of weeks have been absolutely amazing.  I am truly blessed.   Chengdu is a city Northwest of Nanjing.  It is a bigger city very well known for the Panda's they have there.  After much teetering my friend Ivana decided on Chengdu as a great place to spend the week.  We started off the week seeing the Pandas.  This made the entire trip.  The pandas are about the cutest thing I could ever imagine.  They look like people in a panda costume.  Pandas paws are like hands.  They pick things up and hold things with them.   When we first arrived at the park there were six pandas completely surrounded by bamboo.  They were laying with it all over them and lounging all over each other it was so funny to see.  Then we walked through the park and saw red pandas and pandas climbing trees and hanging in a tree sleeping.  We saw baby pandas that were two months old.  Ugh they were so cute.  I took a million photos of them and many will be posted down below.  (when I can get them uploaded).  While on this trip we met some people that were staying at the Hostel that also worked for Disney English.  We met some other nice people too. We met a British couple that were traveling through China as well.      
     When we were done with the pandas we decided to walk around Chengdu and try to find a market.  We ended up running into the British Couple and went to the park with them.  This park is very famous for sitting and drinking tea and getting your ears cleaned.  So of course we had to try this.  I did not get my ears cleaned but Ivana did and it was the weirdest thing.  After the park we decided to get a message.  It was like a game of cat and mouse trying to find this place that was recommended by the hostel we must have walked in circles for two hours trying to find it and no one knew where it was.  Finally we realized it was on a different street that we later found.  We walked on that street also and had no luck so as we were walking home a guy stopped us and asked if we were trying to get a message...we were said yes but  a little weirded out.  Turns out he saw the card in Ivanas hand and was the owner of the message place.  It was so weird that we randomly found him on the street after hours of searching.   We ended up with a great message and headed back to Hostel to hang out for the night.

The Hostel is one of the coolest places...It has an entrance area with computers you can use...a small little selection of books you can check out also.  Then there is a little outdoor patio section that you can sit in.  It felt like we were in a little garden area.   There was a common area with a couch a few tables a little bar area, a pool table and a few cats.  They always played really chill music and it was a great place to sit and mingle.   Ivana and I decided to eat dinner there and then head out to this square area we had seen on the way in the night before.  The one thing about China is everything is prettier at night.  The buildings always have some design of lights running up and down them there are tons of lit signs and decorations.  This particular area had a little water show that was timed to the music...there were lights and fountains and trees that looked like fireworks....We bought a fun little toy in the square and just hung out there for a bit before heading back to the hostel.

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed to Leshan to see the worldest largest buddha...this was an interesting adventure because we went with the people that we met from Disney and took a bus to the bus station and then took another bus to Leshan...We got to Leshan early and had heard you had to get the the line to see the feet of the buddha early...I didn't know that this was the way to see the whole buddha so we didn't rush to the line...by the time we got in line we waited for an hour and half and then realized there was like 4 more  hours of a line and with the way that people push and shove here we opted against waiting in line and found a place where we could see most of the buddha then we took pictures and headed off to Emeishan where we planned to hike the mountain at sunrise....not realizing this was another huge attraction we didn't book a hotel room in advance so we ended up having to pay 200 rmb a person for the one night in a hotel room we woke up the next day and there was no sunrise due to rain but we still hiked around the mountain...this is where I realized there is no nature in China...everything is a tourist attraction...the mountains are paved or have stairs there are vendors everywhere and you have to pay to climb a mountain...we decided it was too much to pay to get in and the main attraction there was too far away to make it back in time for the last bus so instead we headed out a little early and hung out in Chengdu.  We found these delicious fries cooked on the street...and ate lots of street food and fruit on a stick :)

The next day we decided to go to QingCheng Mtn and then do the opera that night.....So we headed out early the next morning and went to QingCheng Mtn.  This was a cheaper mountain with beautiful views....and lots of temples...we also saw a cave and walked down almost 90 degree angle stairs that were skinny and slick from rain...luckily we didn't fall....We got a little lost on the mountain but made it back in time to catch a bus back to Chengdu for the Opera.....The bus was over crowded so the guy put me in the front seat so I could get a delightful view of him running every stop light...There were girls sitting on the part that I think the Engine was under and every time passed cops or went to a toll the man had the girls huddle down so no one could see that the bus was over crowded...that ride was an experience in itself...

We made it back for the Opera and met some really nice people at the opera....It was a neat experience nothing like what I thought it would be...there was not really any singing...

The hostel room we booked was a mixed room and so we met a nice couple that stayed with us a few nights and then came back and had to stay in another room...the night before QingCheng Mtn we were at the hostel hanging out in the common area and we saw them so we just chatted with them and decided that we all wanted to go out the last night...so we met up after the opera and had dinner and then went to a club it was such a great ending to a wonderful trip!