China - Chengdu, Entrance to Kuanzhai Alley (Wide and Narrow Alleys)

Our very first activity in Chengdu was to visit this place, an ancient portion of the city that's been converted into quite the tourist spot.  In this picture the pavement looks wet, but it is not...just very, very clean.  Another shot below that features more of the vendor booths one encounters on the way in:

China - Chengdu, Odd Bathtub

Something else I like to capture on a trip is anything unique, unusual or different...at least from our perspective.  This is a case in point.  Who has ever seen a bathtub with the drain in the middle?

The lodgings booked for us on this trip were fairly upscale, even five-star in some places.  Even so, because of the currency exchange rate, a top-tier hotel room in China cost little more than an urban Hampton in the States.

Another of these tubs from later in the trip:

China - Chengdu, Another View from Above

The walkway at top is what caught my eye - would love to have taken some pics from that vantage point.

Learned a lot about the phone camera's capabilities - and deficits - on this trip.  Using your fingers to pinch out on the screen makes 25x zoom possible.  After a point the camera's anti-shake software kicks in, so shots are surprisingly free of the blur normally encountered at those zoom levels.  I tested this in one of the cities we visited, focusing on someone's balcony some distance away.  The residents had some clothes hanging on a line to dry, and upon discovering the presence of a lady's underwear I decided to delete the shot.

China - Chengdu, City Square

My brother-in-law's brother-in-law tried to get us to go on his trips for years.  He and about 40 of his friends would decide they wanted to go somewhere and see what's interesting in other parts of the world, so they'd pick a place and go as a group.  We didn't make any of them due to work or something else, but the stars finally aligned and were able to join them on this tour of mainland China.  Being in Taiwan anyway for the duration made it a relatively inexpensive way to see a part of the world we'd never visited before.

Must say I was unsure about what it would be like to stay in a communist country, and in the interest of not standing out or making myself conspicuous in any way, elected to leave the Bigger Cahoona home, a decision I would regret at times.  All of the pictures in this lengthy series were captured with an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Our first flight was to the colossal city of Chengdu, from the international airport in Taipei.  The pic above was taken from the 31st floor of our hotel, right on the square of the city.  Note the statue of Mao in the upper background.  I really, really wanted to go down there and wander around taking pics for a few hours, but could not due to the constraints of time; we were kept fully occupied from early morning until well after dark on most of the 16 days in the country.

Another view from the same floor below:

Williams, AZ - Night Shot of Train with Lights

A night shot that turned our pretty well considering it was hand-held with a slow lens.

I decided that this is enough of the Old West for now.  We'll jump to mainland China, then may come back to take in the Grand Canyon...

Williams, AZ - Fall Colors

As we'd gained altitude driving to Williams in the latter half of October, we got to see some pretty good fall colors.  This and the two pictures below were captured on the hotel grounds the morning after we arrived:

Williams, AZ - Shootout Shots #8

The shootout...

Once this performance was over everybody made their way to their assigned railcars to begin the trip. These actors stood alongside the tracks on our way out, waving and wishing us all a good journey.

But they weren't done with their day's work.  Each afternoon as the train makes its way back to Williams, these same guys and girl gallop alongside on horseback, firing their pistols into the air, whereupon the train creaks to a stop out in the middle of nowhere.  Then, playing the part of bandits, complete with handkerchief-covered faces, they dismount their horses, board the train and go from car to car "robbing" the passengers of assets and sense of security.  Of course it's all an act, and a way to gather tips for their entertainment services.  I put some money in my shirt pocket so that it dangled halfway out.  When one of the "robbers" got to our car I raised both hands, protesting that I didn't have any money to steal.  Naturally he saw the bill hanging out of my pocket and snatched it away.  I regret to say that it was just $1 instead of a ten or twenty.

Williams, AZ - Shootout Shots #7

The faceoff...

Williams, AZ - Shootout Shots #6

 

Williams, AZ - Shootout Shots #5

It appears that our little guy is somewhat sad at the passing of their companion...