Typical sidewalk food....

I 

Chinese butcher shop....

 

  

 

We visited a Budhist temple..........many people chanting....and a "no photos" sign..has that ever stopped me! 

Family birthday celebrations....we are guests of honour

 

Us with Sam's parents on his Mum's 60th birthday

 

A feast for Sam's mother's 60th birthday celebrations

Jazz's parents on the left FYI Neish & Ellie....we're going back there on the 3rd. They gave me 2 beautiful handmade silk scarves.....very generous people. 

 

 

We went to the mountains and saw an area that has been world heritage listed. It is an irigation project which a very far sighted person started to build some 1500 years ago. It now provides Chengdu and Sichuan province with plentiful water for their agricultural industry which they rely heavily on.Here we are walking across a suspension bridge which is over very fast running water....fortunately it is winter and there is less water at present until the snow melts. A friend of Sam's drowned here a few years back when hefell into the water and was swept away....not found for a week! 

There is so much amazing architecture and history in this country that we don't have anything to compare it with.

  

  

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Yay...I finally have gotten on to my blog. The internet is dreadfully slow since the earthquake in Taiwan somehow affected the telecommunications cable I presume somewhere in the ocean, and bad weather is hampering progress in fixing it. It's New Year's Eve, and if I get this posted I might post some more as we are home all evening here at Selina's parents.....so you might be reading this retrospectively as I put the pics up.....so HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. Like Christmas , New Year here is no big deal, as the emphasis for the Chinese is on their New Year according to the lunar calendar. Today we went to a Chinese temple, and a Zen Buddhist monastery. We have plans tomorrow afternoon to drive up to the mountains. Chengdu is surounded by very high mountains....hence the mist in all of the pics. We hope to see some snow and will stay up there overnight, swim in some hot springs and have a good look around.
Selina leaves for home tomorrow as she has has to study for an exam, so we are here until the 5th with Sam.
This is a temple behind Kevin where a lot of people clad in brown cloaks were kneeling and chanting a very monotone mantra. 

Here I am in downtown Chengdu today (note the new jacket....Christmas present). It doesn't really reflect the busy-ness...it is crazy on the streets......bikes, cars and people everywhere 

Oh it's tough shopping in China with all these markets to visit.....not sure how we will bring it all home. 

YUP that would be FROG..... 

HOTPOT

Christmas Day night....famous Sichuan Hotpot with frog, cow's intestines and other gourmet delicacies!!!!!! 

Kevin eating peanuts and oranges at Selina's parents 

Riverland Oranges?

NO......Chinese oranges and they taste just as good as Riverland ones.....very cheap and they are everywhere 

A giant statue of the infamous Chairman Mao in front of the Sichuan Science & Technology Museum 

Merry Christmas from Chengdu

Christmas blessings to you all..........we are missing you all in very chilly China. 

 

Christmas Eve at Starbucks....

 

Church in Chengdu.....

We find the only Christian church in Chengdu. When we arrive the service has already started. There are many people, and police at the gates. We make our way to where all the noise is coming from, a shabby building with at least 300 people inside and many others literally hanging out the windows. We push our way to the back and an elderly gentleman ushers us to two spare seats as someone leaves. People are coming and going all the time, and another person scrambles to the spare seats, sometimes jumping through the window. We can't understand anything, but recognise the familiar Christmas carols sung in Chinese. We join in. A procession of candle bearers proceed into the church as the lights are turned off; they sing many songs with gusto. Children perform and are cheered loudly. Many people are taking photographs mainly on mobile phones. A male soprano sings How Great Thou Art in Chinese and the people applause loudly at the end of each of the 3 verses when he bellows out how great thou art. He struggles with the last verse and has tears in his eyes as he is so moved by the Spirit...... He finishes strongly. Kevin has fortunately videoed it.When the service ends we go outside and hear squeals and shrieks as lollies are thrown from a balcony. People scramble to get them off the ground. As this finishes the "Jesus" police I have named them usher us out very promptly. Kevin catches them taking our photo as we talk to a young Chinese couple who wished us a merry Christmas. We spoke with them in their limited English and they tell us they have never been to this church before, are Christians and belong to a group of about 20 people who meet in homes regularly. They say they both have their own Bible. I try to find out about the level of control the government has on Christians, but they don't appear to understand or don't want to answer our questions....we ask them to show us where a coffee shop is as they are very rare.....they walk us up to Starbucks!!!! and we invite them for a coffee but they decline.