Travel Agent Chadds Ford

The Sichuan Province of China experienced a devastating earthquake in May, 2008. In November, 2008, I was invited along with some other travel professionals to visit Chengdu which is the capital of the Sichuan Province.

This was my third visit to Chengdu so I did have some points of comparison and I have to say, Chengdu did not suffer an noticable damage from the earthquake. Areas of the province to the North and West of the capital city were still unaccessible to tourists. Sichuan is known as the home of the famous Panda Bears. The Panda Center in Woolong is now closed as a direct result of the earthquake and there is no plan to reopen. However the Panda Breeding Center located about 30 minutes from the center of Chengdu is open. This center is being expanded to accommodate more Pandas and some of the breeding that was done in Woolong.

Tourists should not leave China without a visit to the Panda Breeding Center. In one area, there were 10 baby pandas gathered in viewing cribs close to the windows. 10 little black and white fur balls huddled together with hundreds of tourists trying to get a glimpse of China's most famous export. Around the corner, six Pandas who were 1 - 3 years old played on tree trunks in an area surrounded by a safety moat. The grounds of the Breeding Center have a Panda Museum which will provide you with as much info as you ever wanted to know about a Panda (and more).

From there we traveled south to see the Leshan Giant Buddha. There are two way to view the Buddha: from land where you climb hundreds of steps to the bottom of the Buddha; from the river where there are boats used mostly by Chinese tourists. Personally, I'm giving the river boat siting of the Buddha a try next time. The Buddha is truly magnificent at 71 meters high it is the largest stone carved Buddha statue in the world.

The next stop was Mt. Emei. The Chinese have a "thing" about mountain climbing. But unlike the American mountain climbing the Chinese built steps to the top of their mountains, have wayside rests made up of temples and restaurants. At the top of Mt. Emei is a golden statue of a goddess which is mostly obscured by mist, fog or clouds if you make it to the top. Mt. Emei and the Leshan Giant Buddha are about a three hour ride from downtown Chengdu.

Hotels in downtown Chengdu include many western chains such as Sheraton, Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn. But the queen of hotels in Chengdu is the JinJiang. This hotel is comparable with any five-star deluxe hotel in the world. The lobby reminds me of the Peninsula in Hong Kong where tea is served in the afternoon to string quartets. The rooms are plush and luxurious and the service is the best in the province.

Visitors to China should definitely keep Chengdu on their itineraries.