The overnight train to Chengdu was not great. We passed the time by playing card games. The loser had to have some horrid salt and onion biscuits.
The hotel was very nice (much needed after boat trip) and we had a great lunch on arrival. Thus far, the food in China had been excellent and I was eating loads (but not putting any weight on of course).
Leon and I decided to rent out some bikes and tackle the chaotic streets of Chengdu. It was brilliant fun, and definitely the best way to navigate around the city. We must have nearly got run over at least half a dozen times. We stopped at a teahouse in one of the many parks in Chengdu and had some excellent tea - can't tell you what it was as menu was in Chinese. We got in trouble a few times with security police as we were caught riding bikes on pedestrian only roads. We got very lost on our way back, but managed to return back to the hotel just in time to catch the group heading to the Sichuan cultural show.
The show was spectacular. It is famous for performers who can change their masks and sometimes their entire costumes in a split second without the audience realising. The mask performance was amazing, but so was the puppet show, kung fu dudes, music etc.
To top of a great day, a few of us headed to a restaurant for a spicy Sichuan hotpot with our local guide. We had a great meal and entertained others in the restaurant at the same time with our basic Chinese.
The next day was a big one - panda time! We were all very excited, especially the girls. We got to see pandas of all ages, from one week old pandas to fully grown adults. It was amazing to see them in the flesh - climbing, playing with each other, falling off trees etc. It was a little disappointing to see a few in our group pay £80 or so to cuddle a 1yr panda as it is not good for the pandas. It was also clear that the pandas were very aware of human presence, often hiding behind trees when many people gathered in one place.
After that, a few of us went to visit the Wenshu Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. The entire complex was great and the calming influence of buddhism was evident as the street hawkers were not as loud and aggressive. We ate at the vegetarian restaurant inside before returning home.
Rather than get a taxi back, I convinced the others that we should take a bus for the local experience. We somehow managed to find the right bus going in the right direction and we befriended this random girl on the bus who told us when to get off.
After another hotpot for dinner, a few of us headed out. First stop was an outdoor amusement park area where I got my ears cleaned by some dude for 20RMB (less than £2). I think it was more traumatic for those watching it than me as I couldn't see the various tools he was using. We then went to a club which was good fun and didn't leave until around 3am.
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