Admiring the Lantern Show at the People's Park in Chengdu, China

Built in 1911, and located in central Chengdu, the People’s Park was the first public park in the city. It is free and open to visitors to the park. The People’s Park is not a tourist attraction but a good place to observe and learn about the relaxing life style of the Chengdu residents. There are many places to visit and lots to see in the park such as the tea houses where some daily live shows are held, bonsai garden, special seasonal displays, children’s entertainments as well as other arts, fitness and recreational activities carried out by adults to the park. .

When we visited the People’s Park around Chinese New Year time, there was a colourful displays of huge paper lanterns throughout the park. It was a delight to children and grownups alike when these lanterns were lit up in the evening. We loved these colourful lanterns which brightened up the park after the sun went down. This beautiful park seemed magical and came alive with huge lanterns placed all over the park .

Not only were there various performances at the teahouses inside the People's Park, there were also meals, snacks and beverages offered to audiences while watching the shows. It was truly an enjoyment for all our senses. RT, People's Park, Chengdu, China

Spending Our First Lunar Chinese New Year in China

Proud to be a Canadian senior citizen with Chinese ancestry, however, I didn't have any ties to China nor did I visit China much for the past five decades. It was not until the last few years before we started visiting this country with the world's 1/4 population.

I have never spent the lunar New Year in China and I didn't have a strong desire to do so until December of 2023. From the pictures I saw, China was very pretty around the time of the Chinese new year. We decided within a short period of time on spending my first Chinese New Year in China for the year of Dragon in 2024. We were not disappointed! We booked our tickets and off we went at the end of January till February for this special annual celebration in China!

No matter where we went in the past couple of weeks, the public spaces such as public parks, squares, offices and shopping malls and ordinary streets have all been turned into a sea of red flowers, red lucky envelops or red lanterns anticipating the arrival of the New Year day.

During our travel, we noticed that the streets were much quieter than we thought and many stores were closed for the holidays. So for our Chinese New Year day, we chose to watch a live show in a city theatre. We were not disappointed. The ground of the theatre was festively decorated while the cafes and restaurants inside the theatre were filled with theatre goers enjoying some teas and pastries before and after the show. Everyone looked happy and seemed to be enjoyable the time of their life. This city theatre was modern and spacious with comfortable seating for a large group of audience. It was much bigger and newer than the small private theatre where we went to watch our first show a few days ago. The audience was a little older and the theatre was about three quarter full. It was pretty good considering that that day was Chinese New Year day and families were busy celebrating at home.

Dujiangyan Irrigation System - An Awesome 2000 Years Old Irrigation System in China

China is full of history and interesting old buildings and architectures. Not only did we enjoy visiting the various scenic spots in China, we particularly enjoyed learning and exploring China’s technological inventions and designs in the ancient time and how the China overcame its many problems faced by its citizens at the time.

Dujiangyan Irrigation System, located on the Minjiang River in the northwest of the Chengdu Plain is on the list of the UNESCO World List. Constructed around 256 BC, this irrigation system has been in use for over 2270 years serving the people of the Chengdu Plain inhabitants and making this part of the land fertile and productive. Therefore, the people around the Dujiangyan region have not experienced any famine or lean years.

We were awed by the engineering designs and beauty of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. An engineer by training and by profession, my husband was totally immersed in learning about the fascinating hydraulic feat of this system.

You have to be present to truly appreciate the scale and the magnificence of the irrigation project. One thing that stood out for me was the natural beauty of this irrigation engineering project. Not only was the system marvelously functional, the area surrounding it was inspiringly beautiful!

We spent a good afternoon strolling around the park, enjoying the scenery, learning about the history and the intricate mechanics of this ancient irrigation system that is still working well and serving its people well in the area. We also appreciated the thought and consideration of the then government officals and enginners for creating a large enchanting park to go with the irrigataion project.

We stopped and enjoyed some snack and teas and climbed to the top of one of the old buildings taking a birds' eyeview of this beautiful area. So glad we visited this UNESCO site and discovered the great engineering feat that was done over 2000 years ago. Absolutely a wonderful day! RT, Dujiangyan Scenic Area, Chengdu Plain

Enjoying a Fantastic Famous Mask Changing Show in an Old Theatre, Chengdu, China

Wherever we visit a place, we are always interested in learning about the art and cultures and the lives of the people in the area. We were fortunate that on this trip to China, we had J. who acted as our guide. J has visited Chengdu many times and therefore he was able to book us a hotel that was within walking distance to many great attractions.

We took advantage of this convenience and explored this famous city by walking everywhere. Chengdu’s many cultural activities and relaxing lifestyles were reflected in the many interesting and unique shops and stores we passed by in the area. We strolled along a few streets not far from our hotel and they were quiet with few people. Many stores were closed due to the Chinese New Year and its owners and employees had gone back to their home villages or towns.

We had an early dinner in a mom and pop restaurant and visited one of the many bookstores. I loved the way the book store was set up with tables and chairs for patrons to relax , drink tea while browsing through some books. J was tickled pink when he saw two cats crawling on the tables in the bookstore and played with them for a while.

We passed by a small privately run theatre and decided to watch our first live show in this enchanting city. However, we still had a few hours so we went to a restaurant for some preshow appetizer and tea. Chengdu people seemed to know how to enjoy life, even a place for a drink had a nice vibe of being welcoming and relaxing. We

had our tea break for a little while and then headed to the theatre for the show. The show tickets were affordable offering theatre goers three different packages. One category ticket offered drinks and snacks while another one offering a preshow picture taking session with Chinese costumes and headpieces. We took the package with snacks and pictures with costumes. It was a fun experience. We wee amazed at how fast the theatre assistant could dress us up in ancient traditional Chinese costumes for our picture taking session.

The show was a new and educational experience for us. It included performances such as a sword dance, hand shadow puppet, singing, comedy, a tea pouring dance and the highlight of the show, the mask changing performance. There were about 4- 5 actors who came onto the stage each wearing a different mask performing some dancing. All of a sudden with a swipe of their hands over their faces, the masks changed into completely different ones . It happened in such lightning speed that no matter how carefully and intensively we were looking at the performers, we could not figure out how they did it.

At the end of the show, the performers walked among the audience and started swiping their hands over their faces. .Boom! Their masks changed right in front of our faces with a very close distance but we still could not understand how it all happened. Amazing show indeed! The Chengdu mask changing show is a must see when you are visiting this wonderful city! RT, Chengdu, China

Jinli Street, a Must Visit Place in Chengdu, China

J. has been living in China for a number of years and he keeps telling us that Chengdu is his most favourite city to visit. It was the main reason we were there visiting the city on our 2024 Asian trip. We were beginning to see why J. likes Chengdu so much. He bought us to a Mongolian area and tried some authenic dishes from that region in a restaurant decorated in traditional style. The food was a little different and delicious. After dinner, we were able to shop at the nearby shops for some souvenirs and I bought a panda hat for Bea. J. also took us to Jinli Street, one of the famous streets in Chengdu and a busy commercial area during the Shu Kingdom (221-263). Hence, it is known as 'First Street of the Shu Kingdom'. Visitors could experience for themselves the leisurely ambience so famously associated with this ancient city. The street is located to the east of the Wuhou Temple of Chengdu (the most famous Three Kingdoms period (220 - 280) relic museum in China)

Jinli Street is recorded to have been mentioned as early as during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC). It was the most famous place for baldachin - a rich, ornate cloth. The streeet was restored to its former glory and opened to public in October of 2004. It has become a popular place for visitors from all over China and abroad. Walking down the narrow strret we saw beautiful old stores including tea-houses, stores and hotels modeled on the architectural style of a traditional old town in western Sichuan Province from the Qing (1644-1911) Dynasty. The wooden steles and the brick-walls exhibit an ancient charm.

Since we were there after dark, many stored were closed. But we learned that if we were here during the day, we could have found folk artisans putting on funny shows such as a Shadow Puppetry show or a hand puppet show. Some traditional arts such as Paper-cut and clay figurines made by the skilled craftsmen were sold here too. Visitors to Jinli Street could get a taste of the true life of the local people and find some reminders of China's past in the modern city. Occasionally, some classic Sichuan Operas, along with some folk music and quick costume and make-up changes by some actors could be seen in the pavilion located in the middle of the street entertaining visiotrs to the area. If visitors are here during some traditional festival days, they may be able to enjoy some theme activities such as lantern exhibitions on Lantern Festival, zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped to form a pyramid using bamboo leaves) eating competition on the Dragon Boat Festival, appreciating the glorious full moon on the Mid-Autumn Festival etc. It was an awesome street to visit and we loved the evening out in Chengdu! RT, JINLI STREET, CHENGDU, CHINA 02062024

Chengdu, China - an Unbelievable Vibrant City with Lots of Arts and Culture

We heard a lot about Chengdu but never been to this city until now. We were grateful that J. has been here a few times and he knows this city quite well. He booked us a hotel within walking distance to many attractions in this city.

We enjoy walking a lot and this was a bonus for us as we could pretty well walk to a lot of the interesting places we wanted to visit. Staying at the Sichuan Garden Hotel for a few days and enjoying a nice buffet breakfast daily at the dining room allowed me to have a relaxing start each day. We were surprised there were not a lot of hotel guests for breakfast. I guess many people had gone back to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year.

Our first impression of Chengdu was how modern, busy and vibrant this city actually is. For people living in the west, we very often have the impression that China is backward, densely populated and poor. But Chengdu is very different from what the media images we have seen reported on TV in North America.

Chunxi Road, a very famous street in Chengdu, was the first area we visited in that city. It only took us about three minutes to walk there from our hotel. We reached Chunxi Road after climbing a flight of stairs to an overpass enabling us to safely cross to the other side of the street without interrupting the constanly flow of vehicles in a super busy area. Chunxi Road is a busy pedestrain street without any vehicle traffic so that visitors do not need to worry about moving cars and crossing the streets. This popular toursit district received lots of visitors from around China. There were numerous shops selling everything from clothing, shoes, jewellry, sportswear to leather good.

We were amazed at the multitude of teashops and cafes serving excellent pastries and different types of beverages on Chunxi Road.

We loved our few days in Chengdu! RT, Chengdu, China

Travelling on China's Fast Train in a Snow Storm

Travelling in China was relatively easy even around the Lunar New Year time. But the one thing we needed to do was making sure that our tickets were purchased ahead of time. We are foruntate as we have a family member living in China and could do this for us without much difficulty. During this trip to China, we had two places where we must see. The first one was Gulangyu Island in Xiamen and the other one was Chengdu in Sichuan. However, these two places are quite far apart from each other. J. was very considerate when he was buying the train tickets as he wanted to break up the long train ride for us. Therefore, We made a stop in Nancheng for a couple of days after Gulongyu and then took the fast train to Chengdu, our next destination. We love travelling in China by fast train! Every train station we have gone to was modern and spacious with restaurants and shops to meet our needs while the trains themselves were convenient, comfortable and affordable. We pretty well could get to wherever we wanted to go in China. On our way from Nancheng to Chengdu, we ran into a heavy snow storm.

While the train was slowing down a bit, the cars on the highway were crawling at a snail pace, almost stopped. The passengers on the fast train were well behaved, no one complained as there were food and drinks were available for purchase on the train. Though the slow down was no fault of the train company, it provided the passengers each with a can of protein drink free of charge. We appreciated the courtesy gesture. We looked out of the windows and saw white snow blanketing the houses and the sorrounding area. It looked pretty and reminded me of our home in Canada. Though it looked bleak and cold outside, we were warm and comfortable inside the fast train. I would not like being in one of those vehicles going nowhere on the highway while we were chucking along, though a bit slower than usual.

The slow down was about 2-3 hours. After we passed the snow storm area, the train was back to normal speed. After almost twelve hour ride, we finally reached our destination, Chengdu, couldn't wait to explore this ancient historical city with my family for the many days! RT, on our way to CHENGDU, China

Tengwang Pavilion (Pavilion of Prince Teng), a Historical Pavilion Rebuilt over a Score of Times in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China

I knew very little about Chinese history or geography, but the name of the city, Nanchang did ring a bell for me. I knew this city was of some kind of significance in modern Chinese history therefore I was eager to learn more about this place.

One of the places we visited was the Tengwang Pavilion, also known as the Pavilion of Prince Teng. It is a building located in the North West of the city of Nanchang, in Jiangxi province, China. The Tengwang Pavilin,together with the Yellow Crane Tower and the Yueyang Tower, are the three renowned towers along the south of Yangtse River.

The Tengwang Pavilion is a great building built in the Tang Dynasty with the architectural style of the Song Dynasty. It has a history of 1,300 years. It covered a huge area of many kms. The Pavilion has been ruined, burned down and rebuilt for twenty eight times since it was first constructed!

We arrived a little after 6:00 p.m. at the Pavilion. Since it was drizzling, we didn't visit all the buildings on the site but only the main pavilion consisting of five floors. Starting from the first floor, we followed the stairs and climbed up all the floors with each floor showing different displays of various themes.

There were displays on arts, beautiful paintings and massive wall murals, musical instruments and cultures of the different dynasties and history of the buildings.

There were displays on royal costumes, weaponry and many others topics.

The display we found most interesting was the one on the records of names of those who were the champions of the annual royal examinations in the past dynasties.

We heard so much about this champion scrolls and finally we got to see them in person, amazing!

Another interesting experience was climbing up to the top floor of the pavilion and having a bird's eye view of the entire pavilion site. It was an awesome scenic view at night with all the ancient buildings all lit up brightly and glowing in the dark.

It was a fantastic sight to behold! Since it was February, the weather was on the cool side and it was windy at the top of the building. I wished we were at the pavilion site during the day and had a longer time to vsit the many other buildings and scenic spots here.

We left shortly after 9p.m. and had dinner at a traditional mom and pop restaurant and loved it! In North America, a few huge francised businesses dominate the restaurant scene. It doesn't matter which city or town we visit, we always see the same big name restaurants or fast food outlets. But in China, there are always an abundance of choices of different food and restaurants from which to choose. Most of these eating places are of family owned and run eateries offering food services at very reasonable prices.

It wa an enjoyable evening visiting the Pavilion of Prince Teng. Glad we got to see this must see attraction in Nanchang, China! RT, Nanchang, China 02 2024 ! ",

Nanchang, China - A Historical City, the City of Heroes where the 1927 Nanchang Uprising Took Place

Though J. did not travel with us for our next leg of our journey in China, he did many things to help us making sure that our travel in China would be as smooth as possible. He booked us a hotel right beside the train station in Nanchang. It was convenient indeed. We got off the train and walked out of the station, voila! We were right in front of the hotel. We had a quick dinner at the mom and pop restaurant and then straight to bed.

Located in the north central part of the Jiangxi Province of China, Nanchang is the capital city of Jiangxi Province. It is known for a significant historical event called the Nanchang Uprising in 1927.

This city was where the People's Liberation Army was born and where the military banner of the Liberation Army was raised. Nanchang was named by the Communist Party government as the City of Heros since 1949.

The next day, it was drizzling. We walked from our hotel to the Bayi Square (August 1 Square). It was not too far away and we were able to ask some passerby for directions of where we should go. We walked by a long wall with stone cravings recording some of the events and sayings of Chines heroes and scholars. Soon after, we were at the Bayi Square which was built in 1977 in memory of the Nanchang Uprising, also known as the Aug 1, 1927 Uprising. The Eight One Square is a huge place with a tall stone mounament standing at the entrance of it. We were awed by the size of the place.

The Bayi Square is the second largest square in China, after Tiananmen Square in Beijing.Since it was drizzing, there were not a lot of visitors. We were able to make out some of the meanings of the stone cravings at the bottom of the mounment. This was where the Chinese Communist Party was born! We were standing and looking at an important chapter of China's history. It had a humbling effect on me.

It was a rainy day and there were only a handful of visitors at the Bayi Square. As the rain continued, we found a mom and pop restaurant in traditional Chinese deco serving local dishes.

It was still drizzling after lunch, so we seeked shelter and visited a couple of shopping malls. They were large and modern comparable to our shopping malls in North America. The food court was spacious with numerous restaurants and eateries offering a myraid of choices of regional and ethnic dishes. Everything smelled and looked delicious. We sat down to rest our feet near a delectable bakery store.

The aroma of the baked goods filled the air. We were surprised to see the varities of choices in the pastries some shops offered and couldn't resisit ordering a couple of the pastries.This was a very different China from what I imagined. We enjoyed a relaxing time at the food court in the mall. RT, Nanchang, China 022024

Xiamen, China - an Unexpected Beautiful City Where Wealthy Chinese Retire

Xiamen, is a beautiul city in southeastern China. We heard of this city before but didn't know much about it. We were pleaseantly surprised after spending a couple of days there. On the first night we were there, we went to a night market full of young people and tourists to the area. There were lots of restaurants offering local and seafood dishes. The second day we took a ferry and visited the island of Gulangyu. Loved the parklike island!

As always, no matter which city we arrive at, we try hard to find a church to attend a worship service on Sunday. On the third day of our stay in Xiamen, we called a taxi and had a tour of the city. We found the streets clean, free of litter and lined with mature trees.The city is not a huge city, not as populated as other big Chinese cities. Being a coastal city, Xiamen offers an abundance of fresh seafood to its residents and visitors at affordable prices. Therefore, the taxi driver informed us that Xiamen is a city where many wealthy Chinese have chosen to retire.

We went to the First Protestant Church of China, a beautiful church modelled after western architectual design with white majestic pillars at the front of the building. A huge blue animal sculpture reading an opened bible sit at the front courtyard welcoming people to the church. It looked so cute! The church was full of people, mainly older adults. People were friendly; but unlike our home church in Toronto, there was no refreshments after the service for social time.

After church, We met up with Tony who was driving across China in his vehicle. He came to pick us up at our hotel and took us to a restaurant for lunch.

It was an interesting mall! As soon as we entered the courtyard, we were greeted by huge teddy bears placed on the steps, on the courtyard and garden. THese teddy bears were so cute! The child in me could not help but hugged them. I had never seen anything like that in a shopping area. How welcoming this was not only to children but adults as well!

So far on this journey in China, we discovered and were amazed by the beauty of some of its cities such as Xiamen, We could hardly wait to explore the other Chinese cities on our itinernary. RT, Xiamwn, China