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Panorama of the vast central courtyard, full of tourists like us

Roof Tiles in the Forbidden City

(Alice Montage)

Why did so many people want their photos taken with a visiting Western tourist?

No we have no idea who the SpacePimps are either.

Szechuan cuisine is very spicy (but delicious). Thankfully no photo exists of Andrew choking on chili oil while eating Szechuan hot pot

Amazing Earthquake Reconstruction Achievement

The M_s8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake of May 2008 killed 69,000 people and destroyed a large region of Sichuan province. Andrew and Helen visited the earthquake destruction in October 2008 and helped survey the damage. A reported 4.8 million people were made homeless and a huge amount of the infrastructure of the region was destroyed. The Chinese authorities pledged to rebuild. We took a short detour from our holiday itinerary to see how they were progressing. To our astonishment, they have completed the reconstruction in three years. They are celebrating the accomplishment of building new housing for everyone affected, as well as new roads, factories and power stations. Part of their legacy is to preserve some of the damaged buildings as a memorial to the event.

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Then - damaged shops in 2008

Then - streetscape of damaged buildings in Dujiangyan in 2008

Now - rebuilt shops in 2011

Now - smart new streetscape of reconstructed buildings in Dujiangyan in 2011

Different water slide techniques

Henry bottom-shuffles in

Alice uses Zen

Helen bottoms out

Andrew makes an elegant entry