5 July

Goodbye, Beijing...

Welcome to Chengdu in southwest China. A non-descript city of 12,000,000, with, so fr discovered, the saving graces of spicy-hot cuisine, a fun-filled public park and at least one beautiful gardens.

But getting ahead of ourselves...

Flight again was on Air China -- this time, the complete antithesis of the flight to Beijing: no delay, nice equiptment (featuring agequate leg and knee room, a timely departure (with an unscary takeoff) and a pleasant on-plane staff. It just about made up for abusive security prior to boarding; much wordse than rrival, which, when you think of it, makes no sense).

First stop on arrival was lunch somewhere across the city from the airport. Best dish: intestine-burning hot noodles. Needed more chili oil, though. (Per the local guide, "Jane", the men are fed and eat the spicy hot food, wash it down with bee and, still sweating, rip thier shirts off. But query: What comes nest? No clue....)

Thence to the hotel, extenuated cheack-in (of course; what else is new) then off to the "Peoples' Park" and then to a poet's house -- actually a huge series of gardens -- and numerous shops. Talk about running dog lackies of state-sponsored capitalism! Abd ditto the "peoples' Park" -- which only became a free park recently.

Much action -- singing, dancing, story-telling, fresh-made sugar candy, tai-chi, a goldfish pond, bonsai plants -- at the park, much beauty at the gardens.

Then a disappointingly mild dinner at Dragon Chaoshou.

The guide told us the story of her life: from a city(?) in the northwest of about 100K people about 500 clicks below the Russian border. Surrounded by desert, desserted on a Sarturday night because of lack of action.

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Meanwhile, starting at the Great Wall, Donna is buying bizarro cheap hats to entertain he troops....