Greetings from Chengdu!

Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou, China's second-poorest province (after Tibet), was a nice place to lay over for a couple of days. About Guizhou, the saying is, "No two days without rain, no two miles without a mountain, and no two coins to rub together." In other words, it is rainy, mountainous, and poor. The capital isn't all that shabby looking, really, but the dreary weather inspired me to move on, rather than explore that particular province. I need some sun. So, I caught the sleeper train to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. Thus far, the town is as pleasant as I remember it from before. When the train arrived, there wasn't the usual stampede to get off the instant it pulled into the station. I almost wondered if we weren't at the final stop, so lazily did folks alight. They're a bit laid-back here in Chengdu.

I checked into a decent backpacker hotel, rented a bike, and hit the vegetarian restaurant at the WenShu temple. Faux mutton with melon- excellent! The Sichuanese do know their food. Then, I enjoyed a few hours over jasmine tea, relaxing in a bamboo chair and reading Certantes at the temple teahouse.

I'll be looking for a camera so I can liven up this blog with pictures! But Tama has posted her pictures on snapfish. You need to register to see them, but it is easy. Here's the link:
http://tinyurl.com/3hm3r8