A fellow traveler told me that Chengdu was only worth a three day stay for pandas and the national parks. I ended up staying longer and it was worth it. Maybe this is because national week made everything really busy, and maybe because I'm not an efficient traveler; but I enjoyed my time here.
Between going to different bakeries everyday looking for something that would fill my sweet tooth and going out to see some night markets I think Chengdu has more to offer than Pandas being coerced into having babies.
I went to three different "night" markets: Jinli, little big street, and old town. By going before sunset each time I got to see what everything looks like naturally and lit up. I have was also exposed to more ankle biting mosquitoes. You don't even feel these ones biting you they are so stealthy. Anyway, each market had its own charm and special little photo-ops. Lotus on the water was also a prime vegetarian restaurant in old town and is not as pricey as it looks!
I also saw DuFu's cottage park and it was beautiful! So many cute areas of the park, I wish I could live there.
I won't be taking the kitten with me but she is much healthier now. Maybe some day I will come back to China and see her again as a fat old cat.
My next stop is Kangding, LiTang, and then into Yunnan Province to ShangriLa. These are Tibetan Areas where I will get to experience Tibet without the cost of a Tibet tour. It is also all by bus and away from big cities. I don't expect to have WiFi for a while but we'll see! I'm also going with people I met here so I won't be lonely!
