We landed at Chengdu Shuangliu airport, is 00.10 AM June 23. 42 days after the earthquake, 38 days after escaping from Chengdu, I’m back again. I feel especially bonded with this city. I am excited.
On the plane, a lady sitting next to me asked: are you going there to help (抗震救灾)？With so many lao wai? Haha, I laughed. No, we are visiting there. Actually, we’re the first tourist group coming to Chengdu after earthquake.
When entering the city, we saw many big red boards by the road, with many encouraging words, such as: “众志成城”; “同心协力，共建美好家园”. The city is as peaceful, as beautiful as before.
Here I must apologize for not finishing my story of earthquake adventure. Maybe I’m a bit sensitive, as I didn’t feel like writing up these things. I even avoided watching earthquake related news and stories for many days. From a psychological perspective, we are all victims of this tragedy. First layer –people who saw earthquake, lost their family & friends, affected by earthquake directly; Second layer – people who went to help and experience the disaster indirectly; Third layer – people who saw news on TV.
Sichuan people are much stronger and optimistic, even some first layer victims. They’re not afraid of and can even make jokes. Here’s a real story. As we know, there are many foreign rescue teams coming in Sichuan. One old man was saved by a foreign team. When he opened his eyes, he saw people of different colours standing by him. He was so surprised and said “God, was I shocked abroad in the earthquake?”
As for our trip, we were really lucky. Because this is the first group, tourist spots are almost quite empty. It made the trip very exclusive. The weather is pretty good with lovely sunshine. All our guests are delighted. And they enjoy staying in the Sheraton so much. One particular guest said to me, “Nana, we like it here so much, can we stay the rest of trip here? No wonder why Chengdu is your favorite city.”
At the end of the trip, our local guide said sincerely. “We appreciate your visit to Chengdu, thank you for your trust.” I know this is something from his heart.
“It’s just beautiful.” Everyone agreed.
Yes, really appreciate your visit, thank you so much!