We left Chongqing in the early afternoon of September 30, 2004, and after a four hour bus ride, we arrived at the city of Chengdu. Built in 316 BC during the late Warring State Period, as the Dujiangyan dam and irrigation system was put in place, Chengdu boasts a 2300 year history. In the Eastern Han dynasty, the city was called Jincheng ( Brocade City). By theTang dynasty (618-907 AD), it was considered a cornerstone of Chinese society. Chengdu has also been known as the “City of Hibiscus” for 1000 years, ever since its tenth-century ruler, Chang Meng, ordered hibiscus planted on the city walls.

The three pictures shown below are Ginger’s favorites. When our bus stopped at a red light, we looked out the window and saw four little Chinese boys occupied with something on top of a wall. We called to then and they turned around and spotted us.

It began to rain when we left the drugstore, so we took a bicycle rickshaw back to the hotel.

Later in the afternoon we visited the town square where there is one of the largest statues of Chairman Mao in China.

We turned in early because tomorrow morning we have an early departure to Tibet.