Visiting China, Day 2

The second day in China started out in a way that made me feel like I’d joined a parent club. When I went to the bathroom to get showered and read for the day, I stepped on a little toy in the hall. It was a tiny little hot wheels car with a pointy fin on top. Let me tell you, this toy is small, but man, it hurt. I’m guessing it’s similar to what it feels like to step on a lego. Not fun. Not at all. But I guess that will teach me to leave all the lights off when I’m trying to get ready early in the morning. 😂

After babying my foot a bit, showering, having a light breakfast, and the oldest two kids getting off to school, Ginnie and I headed out around 7:30am for a very fun and very busy day, not unlike my first day in China.

But before I get into that, I have a request for those who frequent Asian grocery stores or shop for Asian foods online. While driving the hour to our first destination, Ginnie offered me little snack. It was a black rice cracker. I kinda wish I’d brought a bunch back with me because every now and then I really want to eat one. If anyone finds Want-Want Shelly Senbei Rice Cracker With Black Rice anywhere, let me know. The only websites I’ve seen them on are in Asia.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

The first stop Ginnie and I made on my second day in China was to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It’s a center for the conservation and breeding of both giant pandas and red pandas. While that sounds simple and like they only do a few things, the site is so much more. You can learn more about what the center actually does here. As soon as I get done with my posts about my trip to China, I’ll write a longer post about my visit and share a lot more photos.

Red Pandas

After wandering around the grounds of the panda center, we found where the red pandas are housed. I absolutely love that the animals are allowed to roam freely and have so much space to explore. We found red pandas hanging out in the trees and one had a lot of fun walking up and down the path, begging people for food. Nobody fed them, though. It’s not good to feed the pandas as they have very specific diets and people food can make them sick.

Giant Pandas

We spent about two and a half hours wandering around the center and saw so many pandas. It was fun watching them play, lounge about, and eat. Pandas are so cute. If there’s one thing you absolutely must do on a trip to China, it’s visit the pandas. You won’t regret it.

Baby Pandas

It was hard picking a favorite part about the panda center, but seeing the baby pandas was just so neat. They’re tiny and adorable and I just want to cuddle them. I thought I’d taken a video of the baby pandas, but I can’t find it. Oh well. The photos I got are super cute.

Another super cute thing was Anthony. While I was taking pictures of a panda in a tree, I turned around to see Anthony pretending to snack on bamboo. It was the funniest thing ever. Other people started noticing and had fun watching him. Once he realized people were taking pictures of him, he really started hamming it up. He’s such a funny little kid.

Wide & Narrow Alleys

After the panda center, we took Anthony home to take a nap with their housekeeper while Ginnie and I went to explore the Wide and Narrow Alleys. This area is a famous historic district with traditional tea houses, small shops, beautiful ancient architecture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and lots and lots of food.

Food

One of the things I love about China is the food. It’s just so dang good. So, we ate a lot of it. It was so fun wandering around grabbing little bits of things that looked good. I wished I’d eaten more, but I was so, so full.

Looking Around Shops

After we had lots of snacks, we wandered around a bunch of the shops looking at all the fun things. I wanted to buy so many things, but I limited myself to a few small gifts for friends and family.

Tea Demonstration

While wandering around the alleys, we saw a young lady giving a traditional tea demonstration. It was fun to watch.

Chinese Opera

One of the main reasons we’d gone to Wide and Narrow Alleys is the Chinese Opera. I’d wanted to go last time I was in China, but we had such a tight schedule that we weren’t able to go. This time, though, Ginnie made sure I was able to see it. It was so fun. It’s not technically an opera, it’s more a cultural talent show. I have several videos of the performances, which I’m working on uploading to my Youtube channel.

During a break in the performance, they were auctioning off beautiful pieces of art. I had no idea what was going on and every time I asked Ginnie a question, it was right when she was trying to bid on one of the pieces. I felt so bad. She was very gracious about it.

We wandered around the alleys for a little bit longer and then headed back to Ginnie’s house. We hung out for a bit and then made our way to meet Brock, Ginnie’s husband, for dinner.

Zhunzhun Mo Rabbit Restaurant

Brock had already ordered dinner when we arrived at the restaurant, so we didn’t have to wait too long for food. They were all super patient while I took photos of the food, so I hurried to take quick pictures of all the interesting dishes. They’re not the best, but that’s okay. The food was still amazing even if the pictures aren’t.

All the food went on a large rotating glass in the middle of the table and we all just spun it around whenever we wanted something. It was such a good meal and I’m definitely going back next time I’m in Chengdu.

One Way Shop

After dinner, the boys wanted to visit a little shop around the corner. It’s a stationary store that has has all sorts of fun little trinkets, toys, and souvenirs. We spent about half an hour looking at all the fun things and laughing as the kids played with some of the toys. It was fun going there.

Peter’s Tex Mex Grill

When we finished up at the shop, Ginnie asked if I wanted to wander around some more. I did, so she sent the boys home with Brock and we walked over to a little tex-mex grill for some ice cream. There were some interesting flavors mixed in with some familiar flavors. I ended up going with a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. It was nice to sit and chat and laugh. I really enjoy spending time with Ginnie.

Wandering Around

We didn’t want to stay out too late, so we walked around for a bit, just looking at buildings and through the windows at the shops. I really love looking at unique architectural styles. It was dark by this time, so most of my photos didn’t turn out very well.

We did buy something from one shop, though. I’d lost my favorite sunglasses a few months prior to going to China when I slipped off a rock and fell in the ocean, so I decided to check out a few here. They’re close to the ones I lost, but not quite the same. It was fun trying them on because the shop had a ‘magic card’ that showed hidden images when you were wearing the sunglasses.

Heading Home

After that, we decided to head home, which was a bit of an adventure. Ginnie order a taxi through China’s version of Uber, which is Didi. The app kept showing the driver was right by us, but then the driver would just keep going. We were on one of the main streets by an area where the driver could pull over, but they kept going in circles. At some point, it started raining while we were trying to figure out what was going on with the driver.

Ginnie called the driver to try to explain where we were, but that just added more confusion. They were in the right area, but kept driving past us. Traffic was so heavy, which is normal for China, and our guess was that the driver was in the far lane and just couldn’t get over when they got to the area.

Eventually, Ginnie was able to get the driver to pull over when the app showed they were nearby. We got the license number and walked around until we found the car. Our hour-long wait for the Didi that was only 10 minutes away was finally over.

We had a good laugh about it all when we got back to Ginnie’s house before I went to my room. It was only about 8:30pm, but it had been a long day and we were both tired. She needed time with her husband and I needed some time with Tim. I sent Tim some pictures and a quick video message and then crashed out for the night, excited about what we’d do the next day.