CHINA VLOG: Beyond the Skylines — Pandas, Ancient Towns & Fairy Mountain near Chengdu & Chongqing

natural surroundings It’s a hot day, so the staff have put out ice blocks for them to cool down Despite their name, they're not actually related to the giant pandas They're more closely related to weasels, otters and raccoons Look at those claws! They look like a combination of bear and cat Let's head to our next stop Built over 2200 years ago, this is the world’s oldest functioning, non-dam irrigation system An ancient engineering marvel, designed to irrigate the Chengdu plains and protect them from floods Thanks to this system, the Chengdu Plain

became fertile and prosperous earning the nickname Tianfu Zhi Guo, “Land of Abundance' This entire Dujiangyan area is massive with different points to explore This is the 'Two Kings' temple, built to commerate Li Bing and his son who were the engineers behind the irrigation system This is the Anlan suspension bridge, also part of the Dujiangyan system This bridge was first built over 1000 years ago and has been repaired many times It's yet another ancient feat of engineering & it's amazing that the bridge is still in use today We're taking a cart to

get to another area The 'Baopingkou' which is a channel that controls the flow of water into the irrigation system This bridge marks the gateway to the Dujiangyan Irrigation System It's one of the most photographed spots in the area It's not hard to see why The carvings and details are incredibly intricate Right across the bridge is Guanxian Ancient City It's lined with shops, teahouses, snacks, and souvenirs Making it the perfect place to stop and have a break This place is beautiful no matter where you look We found a road completely lined with

antiques This person must be an avid antique collector I love this place Another photo spot to check out where you can take a selfie with a giant panda If you stay until after dark, the bridge lights up in electric blue They call this the 'Blue Tears' of Dujiangyan This museum is mysterious and slightly unsettling It houses artefacts from the Sanxingdui civilisation a ‘lost’ Bronze Age civilisation that thrived over 3,000 years ago They produced highly sophisticated bronzes, despite the absence of written records Leaving much of its history,

language, and governance a mystery They're well known for their bronze human-like masks with protruding eyes The appearance is almost alien-like Their style is unlike anything else in ancient Chinese art, adding to the mystery This is an incredible 2.6 metre Bronze statue The 'hands' are supposed to hold a type of dragon An intricate 4 metre tall Bronze tree believed to depict the mythical 'tree of life' Some of the statues are covered in gold The civilisation vanished abruptly around 1000 BCE, with reasons still unknown theories include floods,

earthquakes, or cultural migration What’s undeniable is that the level of craftsmanship was incredibly advanced for its time Lunch: Wang Ma Po Chicken Soup Rice A rich & savoury, slow-simmered chicken broth with rice and toppings The name literally translates to 'wide narrow alley' & it's lined with panda-themed everything! First let's get a panda-themed iced lolly This is just too adorable - a panda on a milk bottle Every corner you go... There's a panda Spotted panda postcards They were way too cute not to send some out Just look at them! Prettiest

postcards I've sent Safe travels Okay I'm going to get something non-panda themed (shocker) I absolutely love these dragon beard candy The sugar is pulled into thin hairlike strands and coated in peanuts Paired with my favourite bubble milk tea store - HeyTea Got the seasonal mango drink with cheese foam topping We're here for dinner Which is the Sichuan cuisine of sour and spicy dishes We're heading to Chongqing, China's megacity of around 32 million people But our main agenda this time is to visit the limestone mountains of Wulong We'll definitely have

to return to explore the city in more detail Let's do an accomodation tour The whole place is clean and well-equipped There's also a washer and a dryer which is really convenient Having a quick hotpot dinner Now off to explore the city We're here at Hongyadong, which is one of the main attractions in Chongqing It's an 11-story stilt-house complex on the river There's something different on every floor This floor is filled with neon signs and memorabilia from a bygone era There's lots of stairs, twists and turns, you're not really sure where you'll end up

Somehow we ended up on an outdoors section (but this isn't the ground floor) Whole place felt like a maze (& also an oven) The temperature is 38 degrees tonight, which is insane It actually feels hotter at night than during the day At this point I was getting quite overwhlemed with the heat and the crowds Looking forward to my mountain escape tomorrow This is a a UNESCO World Heritage site renowed for its spectacular limestone landscapes We're taking the elevator down to the base which saves alot of walking Woah there's quite some height to it This

landscape was formed over millions of years We're at the start of the park’s signature feature: the Three Natural Bridges It's the largest natural bridge cluster in Asia, created entirely by nature This is the first bridge of the three: The Sky Dragon bridge Right below it is the photogenic Tianfu Post Station It's a recreated ancient post station from imperial China What a backdrop for a post station It was also the filming location of the movie 'Curse of the Golden Flower' The second natural stone bridge is called 'Azure Dragon Bridge' The opening

looks like a sword blade, perfect for fun photo ops Another fun fact: they filmed Transformers: Age of Extinction here too! The 3rd bridge: The Black Dragon Bridge The name comes from the fact that you can see a ‘black dragon’ on its ceiling Takes abit of an imagination From the exit, you can also spot a gorilla face in the rocks See it? Beyond the stone bridges, there’s more dramatic landscape to explore You’ll find sinkholes, caves, and deep gorges You'll also be glad to know that the temperatures here are much cooler than in the city So summer

is a good season to visit Let's head back! We didn't get to explore much of the city itself this time So we'll definitely have to return Finishing off the trip with a refreshing mango shaved ice Hope you enjoyed seeing another side of Chongqing with me See you in the next one :)