Today marks our departure from Yangshuo, and we are very sad to be leaving such a beautiful place. The Yangshuo mountain retreat is the nicest hotel I have stayed at and the staff were so welcoming, we even received a free water flask as a thank you for staying.

Before our flight to Chengdu we stopped at the Reed flute caves, one of the largest nature caves in Guilin. The stalagmites/tites had formed over millions of years and created amazing shapes. The only disappointing part was how in an attempt to be 'touristy' they had added special coloured lighting and signs that described the shapes in the rock. This made the whole thing look tackey and some of the signs were a stretch to the imagination! However, if you could see past that the cave was pretty immense and the natural formations were like nothing i have ever seen.

After the caves we were dropped off at the airport for our flight to Chengdu, which was running about 20 mintues late. Once we landed in Chengdu the plane seemed to be driving around as if looking for a parking space. About 15 minutes later and 1 U-turn the pilot seemed to select a gate so we could unboard to collect our bags.

We quickly found our new guide and driver and were taken to the hotel, along the way we were informed that Chinese do not eat dog, it is infact the Cantonese that will! We were also surprised at how big Chengdu was and how modern, a big difference coming from Guilin where the economic inequality was very pronounced.

After arriving at our hotel quite late in the evening, a friendly member of staff offered to show us to a local restaurant that would be open. He did not speak any English and neither did the restaurant staff but there was an English menu, so through some charades we managed to order. We quickly ate our meal and returned to the hotel as most of the restaurant seemed fasicanted at staring at us!