All the Tea in China - Part 2 Sichuan

I cross the Provincial border into Sichuan on one of the worst sections of National Highway I have ridden in China so far. The road resembles a dirt bike track with large mound jumps and whoop dee doo's, this road is also the main thorough fare  through a small town, trucks driving at crawling pace create a continues dust cloud, everything along the road side is thickly covered in dirt.

I ride on to Miyi, for an overnight stay, thankful for a hot shower to wash off the black dirt that coat's my face after those appalling sections of road. The following day road conditions change completely, a brand new tar road surface winds through mountain scenery, gorges and along river's edge to the relatively new city of Hanyuan, new because the old city is now below water level, a dam covers all but the structures built well up the surrounding mountain edge where the new city now sits.

 

Back on the bike I ride another long day to reach Emei, a tourist city with World Heritage listed sites containing temples, Bell Tower and other significant structures.

 

 



 Leaving Emei I ride to Leshan for a quick boat journey past a 71 metre high sitting Buddha carved into the stone hill side on rivers edge.

 

 

Continuing on I reach Chengdu just in time to get court up in the afternoon peak hour traffic madness, and with a population of fourteen (14) million people there is way too much traffic chaos for my liking. I settle into my hotel accommodation for a what will be a four (4) night stay in Chengdu, I need an extension on my current thirty (30) day Chinese visa, and that process takes three (3) days.

 

Chengdu is home to one of China's largest Giant Panda breeding centres, visited by many international dignitaries including a 2013 visit by Australia's Governor General Quintin Bryce and more recently Michelle Obama and daughters. I wander around Panda Base, viewing many large and small Giant Panda's, timing my visit for the morning feeding session.

 

 

While in Chengdu I also visit the nearby Ancient Town but am once again disappointed to find nothing more than a rebuilt replica town with building's housing and selling tourist souvenirs and food. I do try a huge, chewy scorpion and a large cicada containing a lot more substance than the previous cicadas I have eaten.

 

 

Chengdu is a pleasant enough city, but with such a large population and very polluted air that only clears for two (2) hours on one hundred (100) days a year, I am glad to pick up my extended visa and move on to the clear skies of Moaxian.

 

After an overnight stay in Moaxian, I ride through more mountain scenery reaching one of  China's most popular tourist destinations, Jiuzhaigou National Park. With forested mountains and many small lakes, streams and waterfalls it is easy to see why it is so popular, requiring a continuous procession of buses to ferry people to each spectacular site throughout the Park.

 



 

So with Jiuzhaigou National Park providing a wet but beautiful scenic last day in Sichuan Province, I move on to Gansu Province for Part 3 of my China tour.