Today we had a day in Chengdu for a city tour. I wanted to give our clients a taste of how a typical day might look for Chinese people of their age i.e. for those who don’t have to spend all day slaving away at work.
We started with a visit to a flower market. There was a riot of Bonsai (a Chinese invention, not Japanese), Orchids and Succulents. Near the entrance there are fish tanks (good luck) and pet shops; the Chinese lov their cats and dogs.
China’s ability to load as muh stuff as possible, and more on a small motorcycle remains impressive!
Spotted this guy near the entrance. Grumpy cat!
Next up we visited Jin Li Street, a sort of rolling carnival of weird food, shops selling odd stuff and so on… I call it the ‘Everything Street’.
It was a relatively warm day in Chengdu, with hazy sunlight and this is something of a rare event in Chengdu, a city that is blisteringly hot and humid in Summer, cool in Winter and usually overcast and rainy for most of the year. The locals were out in force in People’s Park which was rammed with people singing, dancing, playing Mah Jong and having a thoroughly good time.
We walked past the ‘Dating Area’ where parents put up information and contact details for their children so that prospective marriage partners can take a look and see what they fancy. It’s kind of a parentally supervised dating app on A4 paper. The crowds are interested parties, some slightly desperate looking parents and matchmakers supervising everything. A very smiley gentleman showed a photo of a pretty Chinese girl but I’m not totally convinced he had marriage in mind as the end result – possibly a more temporary arrangement?
We finished up in a traditional Tea House where one of my clients enjoyed a traditional Chengdu Ear Cleaning Massage – as you do.
Pandas tomorrow. Time for a Panda Nap.
TimOnTheTrain 
mm blood flourishing….not so sure about that.
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