Pandas and a very big Buddah

So one thing that you "have to do" while in Chengdu is go to see the Panda research center. So I did this. The Panda is exreamly endangered and notoriously hard to breed in captivity so there aren't many places that you can go to see them.
Unfortunately their natural habitat is at altitude above 1000 meters anyway so at this time of year Chengdu is a bit too hot for them. So they stay in their air conditioned indoor cages leaving their lovely outdoor enclosures empty and visitor with a bit of a feeling that it's like a bad zoo. I would have stayed in an air conditioned enclosure all day given the chance it's just that hot.

So next stop is Leshan only two hours away by bus. The big draw here is that is has the biggest Buddah in the world, carved out of a cliff face it is quite impresive.
A nice local fellow met me off the bus wanting to practice his spoken english and treated me to dinner. This happens a fair bit so I've decided to treat people I meet on the bus to dinner for carmas sake.
Other than the Buddah there was a cool market in the morning where you could get anything you might dream of. From live ducks, hens or pidgens killed on demand. To a second hand trowel or a bag of live toads. Yes the chinese eat anything and everthing. Two dishes that I don't think that I've tried yet is dog or mouse but others have. I usually order food by pointing at something someone else is eating or randomly at the menu. It makes a big difference when you are with someone who speaks chinese. Hence more motivation for treating people to dinner.