Chengdu, Hangzhou, Huizhou

Today we had our final breakfast at the amazing Shangi-La hotel in Chengdu. I have to say it is the fanciest, grandest hotel I've ever stayed in. The breakfasts are amazing. I told everyone that I want to eat breakfast here every day, not just of the tour, but of my life. I went around and took photos of every station. There was sushi, noodles, dim sum, eggs, pastries, cereal, yogurt, fruit.... and all of it very very good. Here are some photos, though they don't convey the total awesomeness of the experience:

 I will always miss this breakfast buffet.

Today began our visit to a group of small villages, with a home base of Huizhou. This is a small city (only 80,000 people!) which according to our local guide "John" has a very relaxed lifestyle. Certainly the number of people out strolling in the evening, and the lack of a lot of high rise buildings sets it apart from other cities we've seen so far.

We flew out of the Chengdu airport. While waiting for the flight I found these snacks available for sale:

Though they may look like candies, these piles of shiny colorful treats were actually variously flavored individually wrapped dried beef treats. We were served some on the plane. Because they were labelled in Chinese only, we had no idea what we were biting in to. Not the favorite food we tried on this trip. 

Also there were packages of other delicacies, to bring home to friends and family, or to snack on yourself:

We flew in mid afternoon, to a small regional airport in Huangzho, lacking most of the ads and stores we've seen elsewhere. Driving out of the airport we passed through a large area of new housing, interspersed with garden plots and fields. Our guides told us that the farmers in this region have chosen to grow flowers and vegetables, which has made them far more prosperous than grain farmers elsewhere in the country. They have built 3 and 4 story homes,  square and pointed on top with these whimsical ornaments. We were told that many generations of a family share the building, one to each floor.

Still, some of the homes backed onto various industrial sites, much as we've seen throughout the country.

We arrived in Huizhou and checked into the International Hotel, which prior to the new policies of economic development used to be the only one in which foreigners were allowed to stay. Though clean and comfortable, it was definitely a step down from the Shangri-La.

We were taken to dinner in the Old Street, a preserved 1,000 year old stretch of shops and restaurants in the center of town, near the river. (I left my camera in the room, so have no photos of this amazing street to show you.) The restaurant had an open kitchen, with the various foods displayed on a low counter in front of the chefs. They had a vast array of dumplings, along with soups and much less spicy stir fried dishes, as expected now that we're this far South. The restaurant was filled with casually dressed locals, reclining, eating, drinking and having a wonderful time. It was a nice change from the tourist restaurants in which we have been eating.