2. 2009

Chengdu, China

An enormous relief from the madness of Beijing, Chengdu is definitely more the China we came for.
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Drooping branches reach for their own reflections in a still pool at the Wu Hou Temple.
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Drooping branches reach for their own reflections in a still pool at the Wu Hou Temple.

ChengduChina2009

  • Watching the smog generators roll by from the window of the train is a rather depressing thing.
  • A small pagoda tops a rise alongside the tracks, outlined hazily against the heavy smog.
  • The muddy hills and bluffs along the tracks have provided homes for the locals for a very long time, evidently. Some of the higher-quality dugout constructions are these.
  • As night falls for the second time on our ride, what activity there is lessens and the fully loaded train just keeps rolling on.
  • Darkness greets us as we roll into Chengdu's railway depot early in the morning two nights after leaving Beijing.
  • A visit to a local temple after freshening up in our hostel gives us a much better view of China. Locals are practicing martial arts in the park, the sky is almost clearly visible overhead, and the air is still enough for this gentleman to thoroughly enjoy his walk through the temple grounds.
  • A budding flower greets the morning at the Wu Hou Temple near our hostel.
  • The architecture and landscaping at this temple are certainly impressive.
  • Drooping branches reach for their own reflections in a still pool at the Wu Hou Temple.
  • Quiet walkways lead visitors through grandly decorated gardens of all sorts.
  • We're positively reveling at this point in the vast difference between these quiet clean gardens and the mad streets of Beijing.
  • A large tree wraps itself around a boulder at the Wu Hou Temple in Chengdu.
  • Sunlight filters through the yellow leaves of a Ginko Biloba in the temple's gardens.
  • I couldn't help but snap a shot of this spookily accurate Chinese prediction from nearly two thousand years ago. Bathrobe, bad hair, wireless keyboard... It's all there but the rolling office chair.
  • Brickwork bordering the garden's trails bears a marking in Chinese characters from ages ago.
  • Giant cracks show in the garden wall at the Wu Hou Temple.
  • Tracy wanders around the bend in a circular garden trail at the Wu Hou Temple.
  • I don't know what the Chinese term is for the art of bonsai, but an entire garden full of excellent examples proves they certainly have it down.
  • The small, but intricate roots of a bonsai tree wrap and twist into the dirt of their small pot.
  • A large and thoroughly twisted bonsai tree sheds its autumn colors in front of a small pagoda in the garden.
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