Me Ol' China 2010: days 6 and 7

The 6th days started nearly at the end of it... Sleeping beauty, my daughter, had to be kicked out of bed at noon to manage to get out of the room. I went to sleep after 3 am last night and tonight, I sense, is not going to be any different.
Lunch was absolutely fantastic. Some great aubergines, a lovely spicy fish, a chicken soup with Ginkgo seeds, some tofu in sweet and sour (and chilli) sauce. Fantastic stuff for 13 pounds.
The new hotel is very big, the room is fine and the gym is small but, better than nothing.
Chengdu is noisy... Really is. Taxi hunting is the favourite game and people, I am afraid to say so, are not as friendly as in Beijing. My theory about nicer Chinese people living north seems to be confirmed. They rarely smile and do not seem to bother even greeting at times. Not my cup of tea. If I had been here instead of Beijing I would not have such a good consideration I got about the Chinese I like.
11 million people living here and they seem to be all in the streets today on their motorbikes. Yes, over here bikes are admitted. Traffic is madness and pollution is high. I am happy that bikes are banned in Beijing... I cannot even imagine Beijing with bikers... The cost of a bike, China made one, varies from 200 to 700 pounds... electrical bikes fetch 100 pounds...
I have been around only 6 hours today and I got a bloody headache. So tiring.
Chengdu Wuhou Temple is nice but overpriced, while JiLin street is unmissable. Very soon my pictures will be online and you will have the opportunity of seeing that street that reminds you the kung fu movies. Wooden houses, shops, bridges across the buildings... Lovely... Very commercial but still the look and feel is very positive.
In the might we have eaten to a local restaurant. Food is great but, today, I have been suffering with an extremely bad headache and heart palpitations. I am not sure what can be but today I didn;t even manage to run more than 5 minutes. That is all for day 6. See you on Day 7, Saturday.
Day 7 started late as usual. The headache had gone and so the palpitations. I investigated and this could be a reaction from chilli peppers. A sort of allergy affecting those who abuse it. I decided to keep off the peppers for today but I ate a baozi and after a few bites, headache and palpitations started again. Definitely peppers. I will try to keep off from now on.
We visited the Panda breeding and protection area in the northern outskirts of Chengdu. It is a marvellous area. The panda's are absolutely gorgeous, especially the red ones. I loved spending part of the afternoon there. I even had a great coffee! It was more similar to the Neapolitan one than to any other coffee I have had abroad. The sugar wouldn't sink in the coffee immediately but stay afloat supported by the foam. Great!
Another taxi ride and we were in the city in one of the most characteristics areas of Chengdu, close to a well famous Monastery, Wenshu Yuan. The street, Wenshu yuan street, is just marvellous but the Monastery was especially peaceful and didn't seem for a moment to be in China, it felt more like being in Thailand where the respect for holy places is something sacred. I loved the whole day. It was really relaxing. Early dinner and a bit of gym nearly ended the day but I realised that I forgot the wire to download my pictures and tonight I must go out or I cannot use the camera anymore. That is it for the day and the last thought of the day goes to those I love that are far from me in this moment and that make no secret of missing me when I am very far. And a special thanks to my young brother, Peter, publishing this blog on my behalf.