postmarked: chengdu 2025

Why?

That is the main question presented to me. Why the hell are you going to China? And to be real, I didn’t have a solid answer other than, ‘because I want to’.

Blame it on history, fear, confusion or just a plain ol’ slice of fear of the unknown - I feel like the land of pandas gets a bad rap. Reader, if you sit with me for a bit, I’d like the chance to change your mind.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve stepped out of an airport feeling that old familiar excitement. With only part of my group, we were greeted by the kind face of our guide, Feng, and we loaded into a van to begin the drive to Chengdu. Imagine rolling green hills with surprise moments of pagodas sprinkled along a rural highway. All the while headed to a city with a population ringing in around 21.9 million humans. New York City has 9 million, and I’ve been too scared to visit. I remember letting a nervous breath out. What is this going to feel like?

Turns out it will feel like peace, wonder, awe and dare I say even home. The colors hit me first. Reds, yellows, blues and pinks. -make it colorful make it bright make it count what does that say oh my gosh that looks fun- my brain was processing at high speed. My camera was still packed, so it was my iPhone’s time to shine. I videoed streets and corridors of storefronts, restaurants and the humans that breathe life into them.

Jinli Street Market

Amidst all this illumination, woven into almost every inch of this city - there was green. Trees, gardens, planters and intentional landscaping had taken over the concrete as if to say, I was here first and so I will remain. Ivy draping 40 feet off an overpass, temples surrounded by carefully looked after Gingko trees and the ancient giant Phoebe zhennan trees standing at 100 feet tall. Am I in an eco-park? Where are the 21.9 million people? Is this some kind of trick?

The last of my senses to be hit was maybe the most impactful for a person like me- sound. It took me two full days to realize the only noises I heard were the soft ringing of bike bells, the almost silent purr of an electric moped starting up with a green light and us. My 21 humans - we were the noise wherever we went. The laughter and giggles, the OH MY GOSH! Look at that! excited announcements, our energy was so palpable that everywhere we went, I know we stood out.

Leshan Giant Buddha

Being a large group of foreigners became very apparent to me from here on out. We left Chengdu to head to Leshan to visit the giant Buddha via boat on a river, where my 16 year old self got to check off a bucket list item. We were invited to a private home and tea farm, an experience I thought would be like many other visits I’ve had. But I was wrong. Nestled into deep farm lands, a lovely couple invited us for lunch, tea, and leaf picking. This was the first time in their lives they had ever hosted foreigners. This was the first time in their lives they had ever met foreigners.

The weight of this still sits on my chest. Our guide gently translated their preconceived notions of what Americans meant - a larger than life story image and holding guns. And here we were on our knees on the dirt floor trying to pet their dog. holding cameras.

We ate together, passed around ice cold beer and hot tea and smiled knowing we were experiencing something real. After we left the country, our guide doubled back to the farm with a printed photo of us all together, to which our host nailed it to her wall.

our welcoming host family.

The next day, we took a bus, a cable car, and then used our bodies to walk the rest of the way to 10,000 ft in the sky. The Buddha of Mount Emei is a sacred site built amongst the natural beauty of the mountain. This Buddhist mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the many sacred places that I feel humbled to have been allowed to experience. Surrounded by hundreds of Buddhists making one of their four pilgrimages in China is something I’m going to carry with me all my days. Watching the clouds roll over the cliffside and claim the surrounding temples is a memory I’ve coated in gold to revisit from time to time.

Outside of our planned itinerary, our guide surprised us with a walk through the ancient town Suji. On narrow cobble stone streets flanked by the most ornate floral bushes, we began to see kung ju images painted on stone walls. Stepping through a small gated entrance, we entered the private home and teaching school of a Kung Fu Master. We were received with golden tea and a demonstration of skills I had only seen in movies. After many giggles and nervous laughter, we were shown a few stances and moves to take with us.

We continued on to the local blacksmith, soy sauce and Sichuan chili maker. All working meticulously out of their homes they so easily welcomed us in to. We traded a few Chinese Yuan for delicious souvenirs and went on our way.

The days are blurred with images of markets, local vendors, food and energy I can’t adequately describe.

The People’s Park, where a marriage wall exists - just hundreds of humans looking for love.

A traditional mask-changing performance - how do they do it?!

The Chengdu Research Base of the Giant Panda - where part of all revenue goes to the conservation of this great bear and their smaller buddy, the red panda.

Riding bikes in Chengdu with my friends - there is no better way to see a city.

Fighting off monkeys on our way to a temple- I mean...maybe could have done without this part.

But the dancing, the singing, the inside jokes and even the few tears shed. Grabbing ice cream cones on street corners laughing about whatever stupid thing one of us just said - you cannot convince me this is not the entire plot.

i leave a little bit of him everywhere i go.

So why China?

Because it is truly like no other place on earth. The energy, the pride, the history and the love poured into every inch. The joy and happiness left in panda form from a park bench to a government building. The marriage of ancient cities and equally aged nature.

This is my thank you to this breathtaking country and the amazing Chinese people.

Thank you for having us.

You are my why.

my China family.