Dream Trip 2008: January

Great Travel Moment

Off to the Peoples Park. I don't know how big it is (huge), but it is very popular. During the entire time we were there, though, ours were the only Western faces I saw. Apparently, most Westerners come to Chengdu only if they are studying or if they know someone (or on their way to Tibet), and it's quite unusual for someone of my age and obvious wisdom to be traveling with a group of twenty somethings. (Let me state for the record that Matthew's friends in China were a most welcoming, charming, and helpful group,and they were all, separately and together, wonderful.) We saw several groups of people of all ages doing mass aerobics to music. Matthew, my 20 year old son, tried joining one (on the behest of a Chinese fellow), but this was NOT HIS THING. I did much better (only by comparison), providing what will probably be hours of remembered amusement for the surrounding crowd.