Our third stop will be the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province.

From Xi’an, we’ll catch the Bullet Train to Chengdu. Chengdu is about 658km or 409 mi southwest of Xi’an and the train ride will take about 4 hours. This will be the most westerly location we’ll be visiting.

Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, and like most other Chinese cities, has a history of 2,500 years or more. The current population is about 12.4 million, making it the 6th largest city in China. It is mostly associated with the arts and craft trade and it is said that despite its size, the pace of life is more relaxed – we’ll see!

We’ll be staying for three nights at the Sofitel Chengdu Taihe, located in the center of the city right along the Jinjiang River. We will be within walking distance of the Tianfu Square, which is the largest square in southwestern China and a starting point for exploring the city.

Our most anticipated highlight will be visiting the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, also known as the Chengdu Panda Base, to visit with the Giant Pandas and other endangered animals. This is not a petting-zoo type of place; it’s more of a ‘watch from a distance’, so I’ll be sure to bring along a zoom lens.

Ok, so besides the big, fluffy adorable pandas, we’ll also have a chance to explore the city, visit nearby Leshan – home to the Giant Sitting Buddha and take a short river cruise, visit the Chengdu Museum – famous for it’s puppetry exhibitions and, of course, take in a Hot Pot dinner. There is so much to see, so we’ll have to decide what we can squeeze in.

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So there’s a 600 lb gorilla in the room that is called “novel coronavirus”. Over the last few weeks, the news of a new SARS-like virus has been spreading. This week, the Chinese government took the extraordinary steps to virtually quarantine multiple cities to help stop the spread. I say extraordinary because it is the weekend of the Chinese New Year and millions of people would be traveling inside and outside of the country. This is not only a health issue, but will also be an economic drain as well.

There are thousands of people who are ill in China and there have been many reports of the virus spreading to other countries via travelers returning home. So far, the number of confirmed cases in the US is not high, but many more people are being monitored as this spreads. Vacation aside, we hope that they can figure this out to prevent it from becoming a worldwide pandemic.

We are watching the news and staying in touch with our travel representative to determine if a postponement will be necessary. For now, we are keeping our plans intact, but will be vigilant in deciding what we will do or not do.