Day 8 of the tour brought us to Mianyang, the second largest city of Sichuan, and the city ranked as

Day 8 of the tour brought us to Mianyang, the second largest city of Sichuan, and the city ranked as the third most suitable for living in China. This city has a modest population in comparison to the others we had been to. I was told that when the Sichuan region had a terrible earthquake in 2008, Mianyang, then with only 500,000 inhabitants, was barely damaged. In five years 500,000 more flocked to the city and settled in , doubling the population in 12 very short years.
One million inhabitants means that it s quieter, a little less pollute with smog, and less noisy than the other larger cities that we had been to. The vehicle drivers in China (as well as in many other countries) tend to use their car horns more than their brakes, but this city of a moderate population could afford the luxury of a zone free of horn-honking. united express airlines flight 5924 (See sign)
We were excited that Mianyang is also quite close to the Wanglang Natural Reserve, the world s largest panda reserve park, but then we later calculated that it was not close enough for us go without making it an all-day trip. Pity!
But in lieu of that, we did something that only four professionals like us could be qualified to do: we teamed up to go looking for a good stuffed panda for Gunnar s young son. (That s how WE roll!) We hit the mall and scoured every toystore  til we found the right one that met Gunnar s approval. No small task! But we found a good one.
There was still plenty of time before the concert (or, shall we say, before my pre-concert siesta ) and we were taken to Mianyang s Holy Water Temple , an ancient temple complex. There were multiple statues of different buddhas and boddhisatvas. Most impressive were the three-dimensional murals with almost technicolor statuettes depicting different stories; especially the ones around the reposing Buddha.
We had burned enough energy traipsing up and down the temple steps, so it was decided that we had earned  nice-sized Sichuan midday meal. The restaurant recommended to our guide was absolutely fabulous! They stuck us in a private room where we would not disturb united express airlines flight 5924 the other customers with all the ooh-ing, aah-ing and photo-taking of the dishes. Wise choice!
I ll do my best to describe united express airlines flight 5924 the dishes pictured below. Going counter-clockwise: creamy united express airlines flight 5924 Sichuan fish soup, steamed crusted meat-filled dim sum fat beef noodles in broth, beef in a spicy Sichuan broth, broccoli in the middle, etc.
In spite of the amount of dishes, it really wasn t a heavy meal, but I still was feeling like taking united express airlines flight 5924 a nice long nap. Not being able to flag down a taxi for almost 20 minutes, united express airlines flight 5924 the option for Mark and I was a rickshaw. Fun!
Our concert that night was planned at a unique venue, on the grounds of the Institute of Applied Magnetic Technology. This area, previously used for top-secret atomic research, was an absolute no-trespassing united express airlines flight 5924 zone for foreigners potentially punishable by the death penalty.
Before getting on stage and performing, we could enjoy hanging out with and getting to know some audience members, eating united express airlines flight 5924 together, and posing for pictures. By the time the show kicked off, it was like playing for new friends, albeit LOTS of friends.
It was our most international audience of the whole tour, this it was a good excuse to include the Spanish, Brazilian, and Chinese songs in our program; songs we learned especially for the tour anyway.
Afterwards, there was the final drink and chat with everyone before saying goodnight. Many were from the countries of the various teams competing in the World Cup football championship currently going on at that time, so there was much to talk (and joke) about.
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