Chengdu

The city of Chengdu was close to the epicenter of the earthquake in China. It saddened me a great deal because I had spent quite a bit of time in Chengdu in the past three years. I hope all of our friends there are fine. Here are a few pictures from my trips to Chengdu, one around Xmas and the other Chinese New Years:

Santa and Cat -- I bumped into Santa at supposedly the nicest shopping place in Chengdu. I think he was an American, not sure what he was doing in Chengdu.

A Beer Hall in Chengdu -- oh yeah, there was a fantastic restaurant nearby that is built on top of a bridge so it overlooked the river. I also saw a Maserati parked in front of it. There are lots of rich people in China.

A Chinese New Year's outdoor market next to the Sheraton Hotel -- saw some fancy preserved meats there...

Like LA, Chengdu is terribly polluted. It is a fertile valley surrounded by mountain ranges, so the pollutions are all trapped inside. It is also known as the Foggy Capital -- but I'd say it's mostly pollution and not fog.

The hot pot was so good. But after meal and meal of spicy foods, I had to take a break from spicy soup base. So in lieu of a yuan yang hot pot, I did a single flavored hot pot. I like the soup base, it's SO good.

I also got a coconut drink which was really out of season and out of place.