2011 Spring Chengdu Panda
Brave moms with 6 children traveled to Chengdu for some panda hugging, spicy food, and relaxation.
4/2 - Arrived in Chengdu and checked into the hotel in time for some early dinner. Had local snack food near the hotel which is in the middle of Wenshu Yuan Monastery area.
4/3 - 杜甫草堂 (kids called it tofu 草堂 without knowing enough Chinese history) in the morning, had wonderful lunch at a nearby restaurant. Walked by 青羊宫, then took taxi to 武侯祠. After some tea time in 武侯祠, went to Jinli 锦里 which was packed with people
4/4 - After breakfast, we went to Chengdu Research Base Of Giant Panda Breeding which is not too far from the city center. Most of pandas are either eating or hanging out, but it's the most number of pandas we ever saw within one facility. Kids had tons of fun.
Had lunch at a local place, then Sanxingdui Museum in the afternoon.
4/5 - Today is the actual tomb sweeping day so Dujianyan is packed with visitors, mostly to observe the local water festival that takes place only once on the tomb sweeping day.
每年清明时节，都江堰市便迎来了从公元978年开始的一年一度的清明放水节大型旅游活动，以纪念率众修建都江堰水利工程、造福成都平原的李冰父子。古时，每到冬季，人们便用杩槎筑成临时围堰，使岷江水或入内江，或入外江，然后淘修河床，加固河堤，这就是岁修。到了清明时节，举行既隆重又热烈的仪式，祭祀李冰父子，祈求五谷丰登、国泰民安，然后拆除杩槎，滚滚岷江水直入内江，灌溉成都平原千里阔野。1957年以后，都江堰渠道修建了外江节制闸，可以随时启闭，不再用杩槎断水，以往砍杩槎的放水仪式也不再举行。1990年起都江堰市恢复了清明放水节，举行模拟码杩槎放水仪式和传统的祭祀活动，还举办灯会、大型街头文艺表演、花卉和物资交流会活动，每年吸引了大量的国内外游客。
In the afternoon, we trekked on Mount Qingcheng for ~3 hours, covering as high as Shangqing Temple.
4/6 Morning we went to a cherry blossom near the city, and then onto Jinsha Site Museum which was built fairly recently. We all enjoyed it very much, especially the 4D video at the end of the tour.
4/7 Had an early lunch at Le Shan before heading into the Giant Buddha scenic area. It started to rain as we hiked up, so we had to end the tour in a hurry.
It took us another 2 hours before arriving at the hotel in Emeishan area before dinner.
4/8 It was 0C when we arrived 雷洞坪 to catch cable car to the Golden Peak. Fog was very thick. Walkways were wet and slippery due to ice slush. Visibility was poor, even the Statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva on the peak was completely immersed in the heavy fog. We quickly made way down and returned to Chengdu.
4/9 The guesthouse is right off the Kuanzai Alley so it was very convenient for shopping & dining. After loading up with souvenir, we headed to the airport in the afternoon.
"成都宽窄巷子位于成都下同仁路和长顺中街之间的宽巷子、窄巷子是蓉城街道的历史，旧时青砖旧时月。宽巷子、窄巷子起源于康熙五十七年（公元 1718 年），清廷动员全川力量修成都城。并在成都城西建满城，以驻八旗兵丁，满城当时亦称为少城。大街（宽巷子）居住满族文武官员，小胡同（窄巷子）则住满族士兵，等级森严，汉人严禁入内，两巷平行相邻，是清朝遗留下来的保存较为完整的古街道。
宽窄巷子由宽巷子、窄巷子和井巷子三条平行排列的老式街道及四合院落群组成，是成都市三大历史文化保护区之一，是老成都“千年少城”城市格局和百年原真建筑格局的最后遗存，也是北方胡同文化和建筑风格在南方的“孤本”。按规划，控制面积为479亩，核心保护区108亩，“修旧如旧、保护为主”，“原址原貌、落架重修”。 "