Wide/Narrow Alleys and Buddhist Monastery

Lunch with Jenna and Judy.

Kevin took us to lunch at a local restaurant and ordered some mild local specialties. Again, everything was delicious, particularly a pork dish that he described as a “variety of flavors…sweet, sour, and spicy.”  Jerri’s favorite dish was the duck, which was different from the Peking duck we had in Beijing and was served with a sweet sauce that looked like the standard duck sauce offered up in the U.S., but this tasted much, much better. We both liked the spicy green bean dish that had red chili peppers in it. Amanda has yet to warm up to real Chinese food and Ally mostly eats white rice with soy sauce. Oh, well.

Entrance to the Wide Alley.

Much of old Chengdu has been razed to make room for newer buildings, but one section of the city has been preserved the way it was in ancient times. This area is known as the Wide and Narrow Alleys. The name does not refer to physical size, but rather a way of life that is more relaxed (it must lose something in the translation). Kevin told us the crew from Kung Fu Panda was brought to the Wide and Narrow Alleys to get ideas for Po’s hometown. It’s easy to see that when you look at the architecture along the alleys. Heck, even the Starbuck’s blends into the scenery. There are no longer any private residences in the area. There are shops all along the way, selling everything from ice cream to fine jewelry. (We bought ice cream.) There was even a stand selling the same type of fancy animal-shaped honey candy we’d seen at Wangjiang Bamboo Park, but this artist was creating designs that were much more intricate.

One of the temples within the monastery complex.

On the way back to our hotel we stopped at a Buddhist monastery. The buildings are of the same style architecture as the Forbidden City. The complex is very large and is still an active monastery. We saw various temples and the monks’ living spaces, including the kitchen and dining areas. Our last stop within the monastery? You got it…the gift shop.

We opted to take a walk through a local shopping area a couple of blocks from the hotel after Kevin dropped us off. We walked several crowded blocks before going into what appeared to be a department store. It didn’t look all that big from the street, but once we got inside we realized it was actually an eight floor clothing mall with dozens of small shops inside. Each floor was dedicated to a particular type of clothing: women’s, young women’s, men’s recreation, men’s business, “fair maidens’” clothing (really, that’s what the sign said), and others I can’t’ recall. This non-descript vertical mall has about as many shops as Lynnhaven Mall in about one-tenth the footprint.

Very persistent little girl.

When we returned from our walk we saw a bumper sticker that amused us (picture later with other funny signs), so I came back down with the camera to get a shot of it. After getting the picture and was headed back into the hotel a family walking across the entrance plaza waved and said hello. They had a very small daughter whom they prompted to say hello and come over to meet me. When they got close enough, her mom picked her up to give me a smooch on the cheek. The little girl was fascinated with my camera and grabbed it to try and take a picture. In the midst of trying to keep my camera from getting mangled I managed to dig out a picture of our family and explain to them that I had two daughters from China, one from Fuzhou, Jiangxi and one from Changsha, Hunan. I also managed to tell them their daughter was very pretty. I took a picture of the little girl to show her, which seemed to make her happy and loosen her grasp on my camera. Then they thanked me and we went our separate ways.

More pictures from our afternoon in Chengdu...

Monastery temple.

Along the Narrow Alley. Picture Kung Fu Panda's hometown.

Courtyard entrance.

They're EVERYWHERE.

At the entrance to a former residence.

Pandas and horses in the same day. Ally's a happy camper.

Another courtyard entrance.

"10,000 Buddha" pagoda at the monastery.

 

Elephant statue at the monastery.