Chengdu and Chongqing China – July ’21

Chengdu and Chongqing- July 2021

Semi long post about my trip to Chengdu and Chongqing! If you can’t tell I am absolutely loving summer holiday.

City: Chengdu

Province: Sichuan

Where is Chengdu? Chengdu sits in the southwestern part of the Sichuan province. It is most famous housing China’s most famous creatures – cute giant pandas. Sichuan province is also known for spicy food and hot pot so if you like these you should definitely try it while there.

Here are a few quick and cool facts about Chengdu:

+Giant Pandas

+Spicy Food

+The people move at a slow and leisure pace

+Leshan which is a neighboring city houses a Giant Buddha (I didn’t make it here and really wanted to see this)

+It is the birthplace of Chinese tea culture

+It has the biggest building in the world: The New Century Global Center. It was build in 2013 and is 99 meters/325 feet, 18 floors high and 1.5 million square meter/16 million square feet in area – ITS HUGE!

This was my plan while there:

1: Wide and narrow alley

2: Chunxi Lu- which has shopping and underground markets

3: Jinli Lu- an outdoor market area

4: Panda Research Base

5: Jiu Yin Qiao – a local bar street

I also wanted to visit: Dujiangyan Zhongshuge Bookstore which is about a 70 minute car ride from downtown Chengdu – and technically not in Chengdu even though the address says Chengdu. I just about always make it to a bookstore during my travels, but there was really heavy rain and I had to adjust my day. So bummed I didn’t make it here.

Here is the link to the article I read about the bookstore: I really hope I get to see this bookstore but I don’t know if Iw ill make it back here.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/surreal-new-bookstore-opened-china

So what did I do in Chengdu?

1: Taikooli – Mall/Outdoor shopping area

2: Chunxi Lu – Shopping, restaurants, underground markets

3: Panda Research Base

4: Dinner and hanging with friends

5: Nightlife- Orangutan in Lan Kwai Fong area

I did hop on the speed train and spend a day in Chongqing which I will share about later in this post so it made my time short in Chengdu, but I also got to see a new place. My trip wasn’t long, but I am glad I went. I crossed two places off my China Bucket List that I wanted to see and spent some time with friends during my summer holiday!

Chunxi Lu: Chunxi Lu is in Jinjiang District and is one of the busiest streets in all of Chengdu (it reminds me of People Square area in Shanghai). It is full of shopping, street food, malls, and restaurants. There is lots of space for people watching, trying local snacks, and walking to get your steps in (if that is something that you care about).

Also I showed up in Chengdu on a Tuesday- and I found a place selling tacos- I had to try one! Couldn’t complain. It wasn’t the worst taco ever for street food in Chengdu, China!

Taikooli: Nice Shopping area! – after shoppign its time to eat!

Shopping and dinner with friends: I met up with some lovely ladies who live in Chengdu. We walked around Chunxi Lu area and shopped in IFS mall. After shopping we ate dinner at Element Fresh (a chain restaurant in China). The expat life is full of adventure and its pretty much by WeChat (feel free to ask SIRI or Alexa or Google what WECHAT) is. I met these ladies via a ladies group on WeChat and since I was in their city we met up for some holiday fun!

Panda Research Base: This is what the trip was all about. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding was about 35 minutes from my hotel in downtown Chengdu. My friend and I took a taxi from the hotel and it was about a 10 minute walk from the drop off to the line to get tickets. We had our temperature checked BEFORE getting in line and had to show our health QR code (something used in China to track your travels and if you’ve been in cities/areas that are low/medium/high risk for COVID – as COVID is still very real and the pandemic is taken very seriously here). Once we made it through the line we bought tickets and they were 55RMB which is about $8.48 USD – not bad for a day of fun!

It is advised to arrive early. A friend who visited Chengdu before me arrived at the site at 7AM. I arrived about 7:45 AM. Depending on when you go to visit the pandas if it is very hot many of them will not be out. They will be inside glass enclosures because of the heat. Some pandas were out so we did get to see pandas while there. It was hard to enjoy seeing the pandas inside the glass enclosures as the glass windows were super foggy and steamy. Hard to see and get good pictures through the glass.

One of the coolest things about the research base was seeing red pandas. I didn’t know that red pandas were even a thing until this trip. While walking we read the signs around the park and googled red panda facts. #alwayslearning

The red pandas look like racoons to me!

It is a lot of walking, there are some steps, and some slight inclines. It’s a huge area.

Outdoor- MAZE- CORN FIELDS- IKEA – PANDA RESEARCH BASE-FOREVER WALKING AROUND AREA. It honestly kept going and going and going. You could be there all day! We left around 11:30 and really enjoyed our time. IMHO 3 hours is plenty of time to enjoy the pandas, but you could take your time there and be there all day and enjoy everything that the research base has to offer.

If you like animals and of course- pandas – then you will have the time of your life! I semi-crashed “boys day” with some of my friends from Shanghai who happened to be in Chengdu and were seeing the pandas also. Everything is better with friends and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Nightlife: China loves nightlife. You can always find a bar, KTV, or club open in China late at night. I got to check out Orangutan in Lan Kwai Fong area of Chengdu and there was a great DJ playing. There was a lot open in the area where Orangutan is late at night! If you like late night drinks – or late night dancing you can definitely find it!

All in all – I had a nice time in Chengdu! I made it to a new city and province in China, I saw the pandas, shopped a little, didn’t try spicy food or hot pot, and made new friends! This is what holiday is all about!

#sichuanprovince #chengdu #summervacation #pandas #redpandas #taikooli #IFS #LanKwaiFong #chunxilu #streetfood #shopping #chinadventures #expatabroad #tacotuesday #blackinChina #karlasadventuresabroad #karlagirljoy #sumemrholiday

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Chongqing– July 2021

Municipality: Chongqing (CQ)

Province: Sichuan

Chongqing is the largest municipality in southwest China. After doing some research (meaning I looked at a few different websites online I learned that China has: 21 provinces, 4 municipalities, 2 special administrative regions, and 5 autonomous regions. Chongqing shares borders with provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Shaanxi – ITS HUGE!

If you are wondering what a municipality is in China – they are large administrative districts that have to report directly to the national government but are not a province. China has 4 of these- Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing.

Because I was in Chengdu and so close to Chongqing I was determined to make it there if only for a day. It was only a one hour speed train ride from Chengdu to CQ and the cost was 168RMB/25 USD which was actually more than I expected it to be (prices could be as low as 85RMB/13USD or 96 RMB/14USD), but I did purchase my ticket last minute.

A friend gave me a tip of what to do with one day in Chongqing:

1: The cable car

2: See the metro go through a building

3: CIQI Ancient Town

I did one of the three because I also went swimming at a rooftop pool and to brunch with a friend. After swimming and brunch I went to see the metro that goes through a building and because of the weather and making sure I could catch the train back to Chengdu I headed back to Chengdu earlier than planned. If someone I make it back to CQ I have so much to see and do! I would love to make it back with more time.

I know I wasn’t there long! But I made it. How Cool!!!

Here are a few pictures of my day trip to CQ!

I asked someone to take my picture and they didn’t get the entire I heart CQ sign- I was bummed but it was hot and she took three pictures so we gave up!

#chongqing #largestmunicipalityinsouthwestChina #CQ #daytrip #rooftopswimming #brunch #adventures #blackinchina #blackinchongquing #karlasadventuresabroad #summerfun #karlagirljoy #travelChina #seetheworld #experiencesoverthings #liziba #ametrothroughabuilding

Currently I am halfway through my summer and I am definitely looking forward to the second half of my summer as I continue to build great memories from experiences living as an expat in China!

#FearlessinShanghai #Thankful #joychangeslives #KMarieTakesChina #BlackGirlMagic #KarlaGirlLivingLife #BlackGirlJoy #LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden #ChinaorBust #ChinaAintReady #BlackInShanghai #BlackInChina #BlackAmericanInChina #LookOutWorldHereComesKarla  #KarlaGirlJoy #BlackGirlInShanghai #eatsleeppartyrepeat #givingisgood #givingisfun #WakandaForever #ShuriAndNakiaAndOkoye #MelaninMagic #Blessed #FaithfulIsMyGod

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”  

– Hellen Keller

*I choose ADVENTURE*