The expansive Renmin park is a chance to catch one's breath.


Home to the giant panda bears, two of which were once loaned to our zoo.


Chengdu, Winnipeg’s sister city You could spend a lifetime in China and still only


touch the surface of possibilities, all wonderful. But if you are from Winnipeg, you really owe it to yourself to visit Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. Great- er Chengdu, with a population around 14 million, is Winnipeg’s sister city, and the fifth largest city in Chi- na. It is also home of the giant pandas, two of which were loaned to us almost 30 years ago in 1989, the only city in Canada at the time to be so honoured. Tanks go to a dedicated group of volunteers who raised more than $3 million in support of our zoo as a result of the visit.


As the gateway to China’s west, Chengdu is famous for its teahouses and wonderful food. Te atmosphere


30 • Summer 2017


The elegant Anshung Bridge and all its pagodas


is less frantic than in the eastern cities. People relax more, taking advantage of the teahouse culture, spend- ing neighbourly hours in outdoor cafes sipping the marvellous green tea of the region from covered china tea cups. Te first time I ever saw someone practicing tai chi was in a public park in Chengdu where an el- derly man charmed a bird perched on the branch of a small tree before him. Like Winnipeg, its sister city, Chengdu is criss-


crossed by rivers, the major one being Jinjiang River (Jinjiang means brocade, for which the city was once famous). Te river is also traversed by a beautiful bridge housing a restaurant. Tis bridge is a recently- built replica of an ancient edifice that was destroyed by a flood in 1997. Te Anshung Bridge was first


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