my final day in chengdu, i decided to visit yong ling mausoleum. i took the 7 bus, which only got me close by, while i had to navigate the rest of the way using the gps on my tablet pc and some cached street maps. admission is RMB$20 but no photography is allowed and you basically just spend a few minutes looking at an ancient mausoleum which may or may not be authentic (some tomb guardians look awfully new and cement-like). there are no additional museums.

afterwards i took the 42 bus to jinli next to wuhouci. once again, it got me close, but i still had to navigate parts of it, having to traverse the chengdu gym complex, then wander around a public garden before finally getting to wuhouci. i've been to jinli before and i remember it as this fake ancient street without much appeal. how things have changed 7 years later! now i would totally recommend jinli over all other ancient streets in chengdu. they expanded the ancient street and cleaned it up. besides the souvenir shops and bars, there are also a lot of street food with menus in both chinese and english (items were cheap too, average cost RMB$5). i could've stayed here all day, but the highlight was drinking jasmine flower tea and chatting with a tea shop hostess.

i took bus 1 across town, to wenshu temple, to look for souvenirs. why i thought that was a good idea i'm not sure, since there were a lot more souvenir shops in jinli. as i expected, there was nothing particularly noteworthy in wenshu, but it was within 2 bus stops away from my hotel. unfortunately i got on the wrong bus, which took me midway to red star street. i then hopped on another bus, which took me even farther away, south of chunxi street. finally the 6 bus got me back to where i wanted to go, but even then it was still a 7 minute walk. i didn't mind, because it allowed me to visit some bike shops. bikes are expensive (hundreds of dollars if not a thousand or more US$), but these were fancy bikes you'd never consider leaving out on the street. i did buy some spoke lights, RMB$12 each (i bought 4).

i got back to the hotel around 6:00. i relaxed for about an hour before going back out at 7:00 to look for dinner. i decided not to visit chunxi road tonight, instead getting something to eat in one of the nearby restaurants. i ended up going to a muslim noodle shop when i saw the chef making hand-drawn noodles outside. after dinner i wandered around the neighborhood a little bit more. i took photos of the various restaurants and visited a night produce market. finally i bought a bubble ice tea, some egg custard pastries, and some duck feet.

back at the hotel, while gnawing on a duck claw, i accidentally chipped one of my molars. it doesn't hurt but it feels weird when i touch it with my tongue. i could probably try to get it fixed cheaply here in china, but i probably want to wait until i get back to boston and consult with my regular dentist.