The entryway lights up when you open the door, and the entire room comes alive like magic. To the left of the door, is a walk-in closet with hangar space, large safe, and drawers. There is a two-way door for laundry to be picked up. You place your items needing cleaning in a closet with a lock. Then you push the button to inform them you need this service. Then it is accessed from the hallway with a keyed door. When done, it is returned the same way. That way, you are never disturbed with the delivery.
On the right, is the bathroom with double sinks and a jetted bathtub. There are two shower doors side-by-side. One is a spacious shower with many water jets, large enough for perhaps 8 people, while the other door reveals the commode. When you open this glass door, the seat of the toilet automatically lifts. It is one of those electronic commodes with many buttons to operate it. This unit has bidet qualities. It is self-flushing and self -cleaning. Wish we had one at home……a heated seat as well.
The ceiling in the bedroom is vaulted with a beautiful chandelier in the center. There are crown moldings surrounding the bedroom ceiling. An extra-large flat screen TV rises across from the foot of the bed, controlled by remote, either in the nightstands or the typical hand-held unit. Or we can even use the ipad that is on the desk. It is skewed with our names and room number, as is the TV screen.
There are wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling windows with sheers behind the drapes. Both are controlled by remote buttons in the nightstands. Pretty cool.
In the room, there is a double-sized desk with two chairs and many useful items you might need at a desk. Finally, there is a cabinet that has a fully stocked bar with glasses and cups for drinks, beverages, and coffee or tea. There is a coffee maker and a bottle for brewing tea. All of the fixings are inside this cabinet. Complimentary bottles of water are left in the bathroom, the cabinet, and by our bedsides. We were advised to use ONLY bottled water for everything.
Turn down service has a gal that refills anything we had used, cleans up the bathroom, and puts down foot mats with terry cloth slippers by our bed. A strange thing happened yesterday afternoon. The power went off briefly in the room, shutting down all the electricity. In trying to figure out how to turn everything back on, we touched a pad by the door. It must have alerted the "no disturb" sign outside, so the turn down girl had passed us up. Around 4pm, she came back, and indicated she was here to do her job for the evening. She did not speak or understand English, so handed me a card with these instructions. Still confused, she called the supervisor who phoned us, asking for permission to allow her inside. No problem, we did and she was done within 10 minutes.
Yesterday, we had finished almost all of the water, and noticed we did not have plates or knives for cutting up the fruit. Someone from the café came and replenished our water and brought silverware and plates. It's going to be hard leaving here.
We got up early, even though we did not have to. Our guide said to meet her at 9:30am. That gave us plenty of time to have a hot breakfast and coffee, before heading out for a two hour drive. Our destination was a city named Le Shan, about 96 miles from Chengdu. Not knowing what or where lunch was happening, we had eggs, bacon, sausage, little pastries, and the usual sides. It was all good, and it came free with the room.
Susan, our new guide, talked all about China and where we were going today. She gave us some good info about living here. Claiming that many of the younger people are leaving the farms for a different life, Susan said that many of this generation want to live in the big cities, where they can get better jobs. In order to purchase an apartment of 90 square meters, with a kitchen and bath, it takes a substantial down payment. And the prices are rising every day.
After leaving the city limits of Chengdu, we came onto a freeway with little traffic, since today is Sunday. Once it was light, we were surprised to see that the day was going to be dreary. The cause? Smog, heavy smog and it was not going anywhere. We could see reasons why once we got to the outskirts of the city. It turned industrial, then agricultural. It was nice to see trees, grape vines, canola oil plants (actually grown for rape seed, the base for canola oil), and veggies of all kinds. A miracle they grow so well in this constant haze.
At one point, it began to drizzle. It was heavy enough for our driver to wash her windshield. As we drove towards Le Shan, Susan talked all about the countryside and the fact that they raise pigs (for pork...the number 1 choice), cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks. Since this province is land-locked, they do not eat tons of fish. Speaking of rain, we have read that it is acid rain, mixed with the pollutants. It has negative effects on the trees in these mountains, killing them. If we were outside, umbrellas would have been a good idea.
About halfway, we stopped at a complex set up for people on the freeway. It is a rest stop with a gas station, restaurant, teahouse, and restrooms. From here, there would be another ½ hour ride to get to the rivers and mountains.
Once there, we boarded a boat with our guide, and motored up the convergence of three rivers to the face of the cliff where the Buddha is carved. We all had to wear little life jackets, which for the most part, did not fit over heavy jackets. One reason for this Buddha to be built was to stop boats from over-turning and people drowning. The story has it that a dragon came out of the depths to pull boats under. Three rivers come together at this point and the swirling waters were the reason many people drowned in this river, not an evil dragon
Our guide explained that when the idea of this Buddha came up, the people at the time felt it was a great idea. They needed a protector from the undertow. It wasn't so much that the Giant Buddha helped to save people, but more the debris that was dropped into the river by carving this site. They were surprised to see how much the water had receded and calmed down by doing this project, although it took ninety years to complete.
More info on this site says that the first Buddhist temples were up here, dating back to 713 AD. This giant Buddha is 71 meters high, making him the largest carved Buddha in the world. It can be seen across the river, as well as close up. Our river boat stayed right across from the entire wall of carvings, so we could get good photos. The height of the Buddha is 71 meters high, with each ear being 7 meters long. That's 21 feet or so. The Buddha's hair is in ringlets, fashioned in a way to keep rain water off of his face, thus preventing erosion. The flow of water is channeled through the hair to his ears, which have holes cut for the water to drain like waterfalls. The effect is that he is crying when it is raining heavily. On either side of the Buddha were carved armored guards who are there to protect him.
A very steep series of stairs were cut out into the sandstone on either side of the statue. It was just as interesting watching the hordes of visitors filing down these steep, uneven stairs. They were moving rather slowly, especially the elderly ladies. The good thing with these tourists passing across the lower patio where the Buddha's feet were planted, was being able to get the scale of size between the carving and the people. Once past the massive statue, the folks had to climb back up through a cave-like trail, once again, with steep stairs, all the way to the top. Susan said she rarely takes clients down and up this path, since most people begin the descent only to give up and turn back. And the line at the top, waiting to go down, can be hours long. Nope, we had the best view from the river, and that was just fine and dandy with us. Up close, the statue was impressive. Something mystical about it, especially when we noticed many people apparently praying to the Giant Buddha. Eventually, the boat went back to the dock and offloaded all us after the 30 minute ride.
This time of year, the river is at its lowest. But we can only imagine that when the monsoon rains are in their peak, the level of this turbulent water is treacherous. There was a bank of sandy rocks in the center of the confluence, but that is not seen during the high water season during the summer months. This time of year, early spring, many cormorants, night herons, egrets, and gulls use these sandy banks to search for fish. When they spot their prey, they dive from the banks. No problem with the current for them.
Back up to the main drive, we crossed the street and went into a nearby restaurant by the name of Deng Qing. Susan found us a table for two, where we were served a small cup of tea, then a bottle of Snow Beer, a local draft, followed by platters of Sichuan beef, peanut chicken, sauted canola stalks, and plain rice. All of the dishes were delicious, spicy with a nice sauce over them. The two of us were the only foreign tourists in the establishment. In fact, we saw no tourists from other countries at all, since this is not the prime season. Again, fine with us. Susan and our cute driver dined in another room, then gathered us to go. She gave us some time to explore the riverfront for more pictures. And a chance to pick up a little souvenir for a memento. One of these treasures they were hawking on the street stands were pandas in all sizes. Since we missed the opportunity at the panda base, this was a much better spot to find one. I was thinking little, but Bill found a medium sized female with a baby. We only had 100 yuan with us, which was worth about $16. The vendor only wanted 30 yuan, or close to $5 USD. Good deal.
Leaving Le Shan at 1:45pm, we went directly back to Chengdu with traffic that was flowing well. We made another pit stop on the way at the sister full service station across the road from the first one.
We were back at the St. Regis by 4:30pm, where we watched a good movie while doing computer work. Seems that we are being able to receive and send emails through our Google account. Don't know if we mentioned this, but a few days ago, there was a land slide very near our house that forced them to close down the road indefinitely. The bad news is that this road is the only reasonable way in and out of our area. Going further, you end up in another city far from where you need to be. From the pictures our son sent, it appears that the main road was undermined and slipping over the edge of a cliff side. Further bad news was that the water company may be forced to shut off the water main that feeds our homes beyond the closure. Suggesting that folks fill containers and bathtubs with water for toilet use is pretty scary. And not sustainable for long. Good thing we are here right now, and not there. The birds should be OK for a few weeks, and thanks to son Ken, he had just fed and watered them the day before the slide.
Susan had offered to make arrangement for an evening activity, such as a performance or theater, or even shopping. We declined, because our wonderful room was more preferable to running around the city. You can only "burn the candle at both ends" for a short time, then, yes, you run out of energy. Perhaps when we were in our thirty's, we could do it all without hesitation. Of course, back then, we did not have the time to do it.
We went to dinner on the fourth floor of the hotel. You have a choice of buffet or a fixed menu. We chose the menu to order Caesar salads and a shared pizza, made to our choice of three toppings. Meals are not cheap in hotels, no matter where you go. This one with a bottle of water, ran about 352 yuan, or about $50USD. By the way, all major credit cards have been accepted at the hotels we used.
Tomorrow the plan is to sleep in a little later, then after breakfast, meet with Susan and our driver at 9:15am for our ride to the airport and the next flight to Guilin. Looking forward to it.
Bill & Mary Ann
Breakfast buffet at the fourth floor restaurant
Healthy choices
A variety of juices
Salad fixings for those who prefer lunch
Breakfast meats and beans as well
Sliced lunch meats and bread for sandwiches
Our meal included pizza
Tasty, hot, and quick
Breakfast pizza is different from PM pizza
Choices of eggs already cooked
Pancakes
Sausage is all pork
Sushi or sashimi in a boat display
The adjacent bar area was really nice, but empty
A wine room
Temperature controlled and chilled
Darn, all the magazine are in Mandarin Chinese
Tiled floor is the same we had when we were little kids
Sitting at the double sized desk
The view of the city
Downtown below
Elegant lobby of the St. Regis
Spring blossoms brighten the lobby
Checking into the hotel in style and comfort
Chandelier looked like icicles
Fountain marks the entrance
Twenty-seven floors we think
A square in downtown
Many businesses
Many places to work
Hothouses out of the city
Fields of rape seed or canola plants
Made the dreary day more colorful
Farm houses
Terraced plantings
Teahouse at the first pit stop
Tea is popular here
Like the teapot decorations
Many choices of food for sale
Cinereras - a plant we have at home
Blooms among the tables
Semi outdoor cooking
Fast food in China
Good place to stop
Buffalo and cart – the old way of transporting tea leaves
This is our car
Many homes in a small space
Nice store perhaps
Gardens in Le Shan
Green grass and flowers
Also many apartments
Is this tree real or not? Some are cell towers
Symbol in China
Shops below apartments
Elaborate statue and gate in Le Shan
River view apartments
Motorbike transport
Everywhere you look, another high rise
Looks comfortable
Much older buildings near the river
Calendulas and sago palms
River front walk
Weeping willows and square
Confucius figures here and there
Small umbrellas for the little girls
The panda on the left back row is ours
Carrying the produce to the cafes
Cooking pot for street food
Packing oranges
Treasures….mostly for the young kids
Riverboats
You can sit inside or go up top
Leaving the banks
this team was picking up river debris
Smaller river boats
More boats
A bridge over the river
A much newer boat
River view apartments – high rent
This is just like the boat we are on
Exposed gravel beds of the river
Attract the cormorants and herons
Cormorants in the foreground, night herons on the banks behind them
Three rivers converge at this spot
A nice duck, not sure the variety
