We were trying to figure out when we would go to see Panda's and when we would do other things. It turns out that the "travel agent" at the hotel is on vacation, so we can't book the Panda tour with our hotel. Bill suggests we head to a youth hostel and try to book there. We were able to book a tour for the next day, early, early, in the morning is the start...
We walk back and see a donut shop that has all sorts of strange flavors. We pick up a couple and happily munch on them as we go into the subway to go to the hutongs that are just a short way away.
These were quite touristic, yet there were very few western tourists there! It was a recreation of "old Chengdu's bustling commercial streets. It was very much a Disney type experience. Fake, fake, fake.
What happens is there is one guy, the one you can see in white, who starts to bang the drum to his left and there is a second guy, who you can't see behind the blue jacket, who bounces balls of dough rolled in sesame seed off the drum. Somewhat amusing for about 10 seconds.
This dragon was inside one of the rooms open to the public
It is hard to see, but the man in the background is holding a little monkey in a blue shirt. The monkey was quite cute and well trained....wearing diapers..and for money he would let you hold the monkey.
Who's this handsome guy?
Yet with all of that there was a charm there as well. We snaked our way through the 3 or 4 hutongs
It is now dark, and we are getting hungry, so we head home. We go along side People's Park, and Tianfu Square, and head down the busy street. Bill says, let's walk along the Chunxi streets again. We do. Our big mistake. My spidey sense has been off all day.
We went into a mall food court hoping to find a sit down place that wasn't too awful and find none. We don't want to exit next to the touts, so we go thru the store and exit onto some side streets. This is where the fun starts. It is dark, we are on side streets and I can't see my landmark mall. I start leading Bill in the direction I think we need to go, and we are in totally new territory. We are both getting hangry! We retrace our steps and exit the mall and find the direction to go for our hotel.
We opt to go straight to dinner at the "Beef Couple Home Cooking" place we saw the night before.
It had an interesting menu, there was rabbit and duck. I ordered the rabbit and Bill the duck. The rabbit was tasty, but very bony and the duck was cold...and also very bony without much meat. Because we were so hungry, we didn't want to wait and ate what was put in front of us.
Near Tianfu Square, Mao in front of Sichuan Science and Technology Museum
Rabbit
Duck
Dumplings in soup
We walk back and see a donut shop that has all sorts of strange flavors. We pick up a couple and happily munch on them as we go into the subway to go to the hutongs that are just a short way away.
These were quite touristic, yet there were very few western tourists there! It was a recreation of "old Chengdu's bustling commercial streets. It was very much a Disney type experience. Fake, fake, fake.
Yet with all of that there was a charm there as well. We snaked our way through the 3 or 4 hutongs
we head out along the main drag until we get to a hotel for a potty break. We head perpendicular to the main drag and walk, and walk, and walk. We come upon a plaza and realized that we have made a huge circle. We are back at the hutongs!
It is now dark, and we are getting hungry, so we head home. We go along side People's Park, and Tianfu Square, and head down the busy street. Bill says, let's walk along the Chunxi streets again. We do. Our big mistake. My spidey sense has been off all day.
We went into a mall food court hoping to find a sit down place that wasn't too awful and find none. We don't want to exit next to the touts, so we go thru the store and exit onto some side streets. This is where the fun starts. It is dark, we are on side streets and I can't see my landmark mall. I start leading Bill in the direction I think we need to go, and we are in totally new territory. We are both getting hangry! We retrace our steps and exit the mall and find the direction to go for our hotel.
We opt to go straight to dinner at the "Beef Couple Home Cooking" place we saw the night before.
It had an interesting menu, there was rabbit and duck. I ordered the rabbit and Bill the duck. The rabbit was tasty, but very bony and the duck was cold...and also very bony without much meat. Because we were so hungry, we didn't want to wait and ate what was put in front of us.
Dumplings in soup
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