Recently by Amy

On May 12th, in a matter of a few minutes around 2:30pm, almost all parts of Wenchuan County in Sichuan's Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, the epicenter of a devastating earthquake whose magnitude has been revised constantly from 7.5, 7.6, 7.7 to 7.9 on the Richter Scale, was razeed to the ground.

By the time I wrote this blog, which is way too late after the so-called "golden 72 hours," after which period the survival of the trapped could be deemed as a miracle, especially considering the complexity of aftershocks, landslides, telecommunication breakdown and rainstorms in this case, yet every single one of the medical staff, search team and relief supply troop from the People's Liberation Army (PLA), from the rescue forces of the Red Cross Society and the China Charity Federation, from the volunteer indivuduals and corporations coming from other provinces, Taiwan, Hong Kong, as well as overseas, is still racing against time to find survivors and attend the wounded,  the confirmed death toll of the mass disaster has reached 19,509 and counting, and numerous others were buried in debris (Xinhua reported).

Let's pray for the survivors, let's mourn for the deceased compatriots, and most inportantly, let's do something more than crying and expressing condolences, like volunteering to donate blood and money, or offering help at the scene, to hold their hands, look into their eyes and tell them that we're get through this horrible disaster together.

The following  bank accounts receive donations to assist Wenchuan earthquake relief efforts:

The night before our trip to the legendary Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding, I was so excited that I hardly got any sleep.

I just lied there, with my eyes and mind wide open, reviewing what information I've heard and gathered on the internet, and wondering what it will be like for my first date with some of the the world's most endangered living fossils.

Well, after bouncing out of the bed way before the alarm rang, trekking all the way from the city center to the area outside the Third Ring Road in the picturesque Northern Suburbs, and forking out 30 yuan to get in, my friend was superised to notice no traces of fatigue on me at all.

"Behold! Behold!" I cried out every time I saw a ginat panda, no matter it is basking languishly in the sun or climbing agilely to get its food, brazenly ignoring the prohibitive regulations against speaking loudly while visiting, "Isn't it adorable? Isn't it?"

"What else are you expecting?" she asked.

"You don't understand, this gonna be very much differenet. " I replied, couldn't stop myself from taking a picture of each and every one of them. "Just remember that they are as old as the long-extinct dinosaurs."

"And consider ourselves super lucky, because whatever the folks see and adore in San Diego Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, Memphis Zoo and the National Zoo in DC, as well as the Berlin Zoo, Mexico Zoo, Tokyo Ueno Zoo, and Chiang Mai Zoo, they are bred in here in the first place!"

"Cool! Just give me one picture in your pile, OK? I'm gonna make others jealous!!"  

It's known that he who has never been to Chengdu does not realize how burdensome he lives his life. How True!

While some say Chengdunese idle away their time strolling, some say they enjoy their time sitting back and sipping several cups of tea or two, or simply lazing away the entire day doing nothing more productive than playing chess or mah-jong, Chengdunese themselves express and define their concept of lifestyle as: Just go with the flow like a fish swim with the current through the sea of life.

Either way, they live their lives in such a relaxed pace that those who are accustomed to the frantic urban pace would find hard to believe, to resist and to fall in love with.

The best place to have the first hand and most direct experience of their lifestyle is the teahouse. It certainly is not the unique phenomenon in Chengdu, but you simply can't find another place that carries on more ubiquitous a street life scene, more contagious a folk culture and more versatile a socializing function than Chengdu's teahouses.

I really admire how "chill" Chengdunese always are. They can be genuinely happy in almost every situation and don't seem to become easily bothered by anything.

Just live through lackadaisical days after lackadaisical days of endless lackadaisical sun over endless refills of tea, with a lackadaisical attitude and tempo, what do you call this lifestyle, laid-back, or lazy?

After experiencing such traditional teahouse culture here and there throughout Chengdu, my friend concluded: "No wonder the Kingdom of Shu was the first to be conquered during the Three Kingdoms Period."

Even if we only had a very short sojourn in the urban area and moved out quickly to the surrounding scenic mountainous areas, there are still much to write home about in this intriguing city.

Not that we have our eyes pleased with sightings of fine-figured girls, and our stomachs satisfied with plateful of cheap and delicious food, which is indeed an extraordinary selling point that few other cities in this country have been able to brag about as assuredly and deservedly as does Chengdu.

It is the way how Chengdu seems to satisfy everyone's requirement that amazed me most.

I always remember how came the decision to visit this city. My friend admires historic attractions to the point of fetishism, and I enjoy scenic beauty to the pont of obsession, so we brought our discussion of holiday destinations into a really hot debate. Then one of my other friend suggested: "Why not Chengdu? You won't regret it."

Of course we did not. Just take a look at the city attraction, like the Wuhou Memorial Temple

and the Thatched Cottage of Dufu

And don't forget that's only the prelude to the more culturally-rich and naturally-beautiful Mount Emei, Mount Qingcheng, Dujiangyan Irrigation System, and Sanxing Dui Relics!

The first day in Chengdu, I was already overwhelmed by its intriguing charm and delicious treats.

Chunxi Road was just as bustling as Nanjing Road in Shanghai and Wangfujing Street in Beijing, with a slightly smaller scale, but more groups of beautiful girls. My friend was a pretty girl herself, and would always stand out in streets, but not here in Chengdu. She grumbled jokingly that she would never come back to this city again.

Chengdu food was super delicious. As a typical first-timer traveler, I was fool enough to eat to my heart's content the very moment our first dish was served. I was not quite ready to receive so heaping a plateful of food for so reasonal price and there was practically not enough space for the rest of our meal only after two or three dishes. So I took the chance to take a photo. I only wished I could have another stomach along!