Chongqing is the largest and most populous city in China with over 30 million people living there. It was the starting point for our Yangzi River cruise and we had a day to explore some of the town before we set off.

On the train to Chongqing from Xi'an a few of us were playing cards in the restaurant car. I went to get some food but the menu was all in Chinese - I wanted to find out which item was chicken (the safest option) but no-one could understand what I was asking for. I ended up doing a rather comical chicken impression which gave all the Chinese guys in the carraige a good laugh and I got my chicken dish in the end

Late at night we heard some commotion coming from the restaurant car - the next one over from where we were sleeping. We tried to have a look through the window from a safe distance. The train suddenly stopped and there was a lot of shouting and scuffling as some people were forced out the door, off the train. At that point most of us hid back inside our cabin but one of the boys went out for a peek and said someone ran on the train with a machete, went into the restaurant car and quickly ran off again, after which there was someone lying flat on the chairs with a lot of blood on the floor! Scary stuff!

When we arrived we went to Chongqing Zoo where the main attraction is the pandas. They are beautiful and I was shocked to learn that there are less than a 1,000 of them left in the world.

I enjoyed Ciqikou Ancient Town - a district of Chongqing in which the traditional buildings have been preserved and restored - it was reminiscint of Wuzhen near Shanghai but with a much more authentic, friendly and lively feel. There's a distinct tourist street where all the souvenir shops and restaurants are concentrated and the rest is mostly regular people's houses where I saw people going about their daily business as I wandered around.

For dinner we had the local speciality - hot pot - a pot of boiling spicy liquid in the centre of the table and we added whatever vegetables, noodles and raw meats that we fancied and then fished them out as they cooked. It was SPICY and delicious!

Before boarding our Yangzi River cruise, we went to Carrefour to stock up on drinks and snacks - it was quite strange to be in a French supermarket in China!