Was an early (before the sun came up start) @ 7.30am. It also drizzled all day. We were met by Mr Jing who was our driver today (speaks no English). He drove us 2 hours to the north-east of Chengdu (with a breakfast stop at a local dumpling joint) to the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. It is an ancient irrigation system constructed around 256BC as a flood control project. It is still in operation today and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There were 2 suspension bridges we crossed and an amazing old wooden bridge near the entry.

From there we went to a local restaurant for lunch then about 30min further to the Dujiangyan Panda Base. The rain and cooler weather ensured it was a fabulous and awesome experience seeing approx 6 pandas up close and witnessing their active antics (play fighting, climbing trees, eating bamboo). The good things was that it was UNCROWDED yay!! We all thoroughly enjoyed our time there (Dad didn’t want to go in and slept in the car instead).

At 3.30, we arrived into Jiezi Ancient Town. We spent the next 1.5 hours wanding down the main street checking out the various shops and eateries along the way (Dad particularly liked this place). It was a pretty setting and practically deserted (due to the rain??) apart from the shop keepers.

It was then a 3 hour drive through heaps of traffic congestion back to the apartment. Mr Jing was a safe, skilled and patient driver! It’s amazing how there is so much traffic and such little agro.