Dufu’s Cottage

Here will be some quick rundowns on some of the things that I crammed into my China experience before I left Chengdu.  It was a lot of stuff in about a period of one month.  Wow!  Okay, so here we go.  

One of the most famous tourist spots in Chengdu is Dufu’s Cottage, the retreat of one of China’s most famous poets. It was less of a “cottage” and much more of an estate.  If only we could all have cottages such as his.  But it was certainly a retreat and is said to be the home he occupied during the most peaceful time of his life.  His cottage has been preserved because he is credited with preserving Chinese history through his poems.  

The cottage!  Sorry I couldn't get a pure picture.  But the boy adds character right?

After some adventures on the public bus and not quite knowing which stop to get off at, we were able to explore.  The actual cottage was modest, however, I do need to remember that cottage is the key word. There were many outdoor sitting areas that could inspire any artist.  That was the bulk of the estate, with buildings interspersed among all the scenery.  I would say that it is something uniquely Chinese that way.

Usually, I end up exploring at least some portions of these adventures by myself, and that day was no different.  There’s just something really great about walking around and relaxing.  It’s not about anything else but yourself at that moment.  Just you and your thoughts.  Some of my favorite moments in China were just being able to walk away for a few minutes and collect myself.  I liked doing that back home in the United States, but I never realized how much until I got here in China.

But then again that might be because walking is my main mode of transportation.  But we’ll just ignore that fact.  =D  On to describe the next adventure!