Chengdu - A Panda’s Paradise

During the last holiday I jumped on a plane and headed off to see a good friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time. That is one thing that living in China has given me, friends from all around the world. Jojo is from South Africa, living in Chengdu for the last few years. I’d said I’d come for a long time and it was finally time to go.

Chengdu is known for its spicy food. Anyone that goes there always talks about it. I’m not the biggest fan of eating spice food or hot pot. But this was top of the list. As many of my friends know, travel for me is about food as much as seeing the sights.

Jojo is one of the OG members of The Monday Club. We used to sit and talk for hours about the topics that men are normally too scared to talk about. So when I landed at his apartment at 2 in the morning, we started talking like the good Ould days. We went to bed too late to get up early haha.

Leshan and the Pandas had to be seen. With a few other recommendations from friends in the city, away we went to see Chengdu. Leshan was amazing, I’ve never seen such an amazing man made cave structure. Hand carved or such a massive scale. Well worth looking at. The Pandas were awesome to see. So playful, energetic and yet lazy. Sprinting to lie down beside the food haha. This made the trip.

While food is always high on my agenda, catching up with my friend was more important. With some recommendations from some locals we headed to some restaurants but it was just so so. It was more a place to talk more.

I will be back to Chengdu at some point, I’ll get the hot pot, the spicy food and spend the next day regretting it on the toilet lol. If you get the chance to go. I recommend would recommend it every time. An amazing city to visit, feeling worlds away from Nantong.