Public Square and Dinner

This post will appear out of order because I waited until later today to upload it.

Statue of Chairman Mao.

Jenna and Judy stopped by and asked if we wanted to go for a walk in the public square about a block from our hotel. We were planning to go for a walk anyway, so we joined them. This public square is a pretty good size, about the same size as Ba Yi Square in Nanchang, but much smaller than Tiananmen Square in Beijing. At one end of the square is a flag pole flying the Chinese national flag, and directly across the street from that flag pole is a huge statue of Chairman Mao. Kevin told us that it is one of the only remaining statues of Mao. Most of them were torn down following the end of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970's. He also told us that prior to the Cultural Revolution there was an ancient palace for the emperor on the site, but that was razed and the Mao statue and the Sichuan Museum of Technology and Science erected in its place.

In the main public square in Chengdu, China.

While we were in the square a young man came over and struck up a conversation with Judy and me. He was curious about our little group (Judy, Jenna, Jerri, Amanda, Ally, and me). He asked where we were from and if the three girls were our daughters. He asked where they were born and what the purpose of our trip to China was. Essentially, what did we hope to accomplish by travelling to China. After Judy and I clarified that we were not husband and wife (Jerri and the three girls were about 10 yards from us at the time), that the girls were from different provinces (not Sichuan), and that our purpose for travelling was so our daughters could see the beauty of China and the places of their birth, he smiled and said he thought we had "good hearts" for giving the girls loving homes.

We left the square and did some shopping...window shopping at the expensive stores and real shopping at the supermarket...and ended up at McDonald's for dinner (comfort food time). Tip for the day: when ordering spicy chicken from McDonald's, keep in mind where you are at the time. Spicy chicken ordered in Sichuan, China is NOT the same as what you'd get back home. It's a good bit hotter. I'm just sayin'.