Sichuan & Yunnan Adventures

After nearly a decade, we returned to mainland China. On this trip, we decided to take the less travelled route to the Southwest part of China, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. We visited, Chongqing, Lijiang and Chengdu. We survived on my few words of Mandarin, Alysia served as our main translator. CAIS finally paid off.

Chongqing, formerly known as Chungking. It's a large city with a population of over 28 million people. We used Chongqing as our base to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site, Dazu Rock Carvings. The steep hillsides of the Dazu area contains an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the 9th to the 13th century. They are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Dazu is about 3 hours bus ride from Chongqing.

Chongqing pics

After Chongqing, we visited one of the most famous tourist sites in China, Lijiang in Yunnan. While in Lijiang, we also hiked the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Grand Canyon of China. Lijiang old town is also one of UNESCO heritage sites. It's home to the Naxi (Nakhi) ethnic minority. Naxi people are interesting in that the women are the head of the household. They are colorful in custom and culture. The surrounding villages of Baisha and Shuhe brought us back to ancient times. It's one of the most fascinating places we have visited. While in Lijiang, we traveled 3 hours to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. We bravely scaled the mountain down to the river. It was an experiencing we will never forget. Scary to think back about the climb.

Lijiang pics

Our final stop was Chengdu in Sichuan province. Sichuan is home to the Giant Panda. Seeing the panda up close was the highlight of our trip. I also took some videos of the Panda (toward the end of the link below). They are extremely adorable in their habitat.

Chengdu pics