Getting to know the locals in Dujiangyan

We are so happy that our two Rustic Pathways group leaders Harvey & Casey-are phenomenal- very fun, positive & we all feel very cared for under their stewardship. Despite utter & complete exhaustion after a 24 hours of straight travel time, our group unanimously voted to forgot sleeping in, in favor of waking early to start our day in the People’s Park in Chengdu. The park is filled with people, almost all retired & over age 50, enjoying meeting up to dance, do tai chi, play shadow kick, & bad mitten for a few hours. We were surprised that we have seen no other tourists/ foreigners there & the local people were so friendly & welcomed us to join them! Our students jumped in at every opportunity! Everyone was filled with joy after this unique time with the local people. We are proud of ourselves that we tried hard to practice some of the Mandarin words we learned! After that, we had tea at a hundred year old teahouse. We also hiked to the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. The Dujiangyan is an ancient irrigation system in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, China. Originally constructed around 256 BC by the State of Qin as an irrigation and flood control project, it is still in use today. The system's infrastructure develops on the Min River, the longest tributary of the Yangtze.

At dinner, Mar said if we had to go back home after visiting China for just today- this trip would have been worth it, & we all agreed- we have done & learned so much just in one day it’s remarkable!