Sichuan beckoned. For years I have eaten the food, watched the pandas, and wondered about the 'real China' (as they in Sichuan refer to themselves). I was not disappointed. Chengdu, as the heart of Sichuan, was a laid-back (comparatively) city where people seem to have remembered how to enjoy life. Relaxing afternoon tea in the park, watching people dance (tango!), and strolling along preserved (and renovated) Qing dynasty streets eating numerous unidentified items (but not rabbit head) was a pleasure.
Chengdu is also, like other major Chinese cities, developing at a blistering pace. Freshly opened subways, skylines littered with cranes, and LEDs everywhere screamed that New China had arrived here as well. This has brought its own share of benefits and problems, and I hope Chengdu does not lose its identity or the warm of its people in the process.
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