Pic o' the Day #40

This is downtown Mianyang. The city is famous for being clean, which is a nice thing here in China. I really think that the city is more accurately described as being very livable. Chengdu, the nearby capital city of Sichuan Province, has more flash and style, but I would always prefer to live in Mianyang. The tree-lined streets, the three rivers, and the rolling hills remind me of my own hometown.

Notice the bike lane on the right. You'll find these throughout Mianyang and in most cities in China.

Also, the advertisement is for Sichuan's favorite beer, 雪花 (Xue hua, called Snow, but really translates as Snowflake).

It's all about the Benjamins. This is the money I had to fork over to get a ticket to Thailand and India. Well, not actually. This is the money I had to put down as a deposit for the tickets. I had to bring the rest of the ransom in a paper bag to the old abandoned water tower. They said I could just bring the rest to their office when the ticket arrived, but I felt like I needed more drama when I spent the most money I ever have in China. The tickets cost more than 4 months of Peace Corps salary, or what many of you make on a regular basis.

I read that they put Mao on the money to help reduce counterfeiting. Everyone knows what he looks like and you'd have to be a counterfeiter of low morals to cheat the Great Helmsman.