Chengdu

We were in Chengdu for three days and found it to be the most relaxed city out of the ones we've seen in China: people don't seem to be in a hurry and spend their days drinking tea, playing chess, chatting and hanging out.

We went to a few pedestrian-only areas which were filled with tea houses and boutiques, all retrofitted to the traditional style. We also had some delicious Szechuan food including ma po tofu, several kinds of noodles and dumplings, and spicy hot pot.

My favourite part about Chengdu, however, has to be the pandas. We saw our first pair of pandas back at the Taipei Zoo at the end of May, but here at the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base, there were more than 20 pandas of all ages! Apparently over 80% of pandas in China can be found in Szechuan. They are so adorable, I could watch them all day!