Jan 2004. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, and is therefore the starting point for my travels to the west part of Sichuan. Chengdu is a huge city and during the winter time it seems to be cloudy and dark all day. I wasn't sure if this was because of the air pollution or simply winter fog. These photos were taken in the afternoon. Jan 2004. Luzhou is a city in the eastern part of Sichuan (relatively close to Chongqing). These photos are of He Jiang another town making up the city of Luzhou (He Jiang is about an half an hour bus drive to Luzhou). This is where I spent the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) for 2004, with Xu Qing's family. I had a great time and ate way too much food!