Welcome to Chengdu! - Nov. 27‏th

We traveled two and a half hours by air this morning to get to Chengdu -- a tiny little town that our guide, Emily, informed me has just 12 million residents.   Chengdu, which is located in the Sichuan provence, means something roughly like "come to this city," a moniker vested upon it by an early muckity-muck in an effort to encourage settlement.   We haven't vetted this claim on Wikipedia, but it sounds truish -- will have to verify later.

We relaxed most of the day, spending the morning reading about the sites and the afternoon purchasing a stroller and some light groceries at an enormous store that sold everything from strollers, to "designer" fashion, to fresh fish, turtles and frogs for your consumption.   I'm not sure what one looks for in a good frog, perhaps size?

Grayson was a hit again, drawing a fair bit of attention and causing one elderly woman to grab his head and, smiling, say (I'm guessing based upon her gestures) something about how she loved his cheeks.   He takes it all well.   I hope it does not all serve as fertilizer for the ego.  

Tomorrow is the big day.   We are all excited.   Please keep us in your thoughts.