Arrived in Chengdu late on Monday night after a very bumpy flight. The plane smelt of China (incidentally so do our clothes after getting them washed, dried, folded and returned for 2 pounds at the hostel!) Chengdu is a beautiful city. Everything is much greener here (Jon reckons it is because of a higher level of rainfall!) The city is bustling with crazy car drivers and numerous bikes everywhere. Yesterday we went to the people's park which was really pretty. A fake waterfall at the entrance set the tone. We hired rowing boats and rowed around the over-sized pond! We were celebrities on the water as lots of children kept saying hello and waving at us! People were practicing Tai Chi, singing karaoke and there was even an art auction! We headed for the main square- Tianfu, where Jon had a McRed Bean pie! Wandered towards the science and technology building- it was huge but shut until Thursday! Wandering past Celebrity City Hotel I decided (having gained celebrity status amongst the children) it would be rude not to have my picture taken next to the sign. However, what looked like a marble floor was actually water! My boots were soaking (as were Jon's trousers from laughing so much!) On our walk back to the hostel we chose the river route- lots of people sitting by the river, playing chess and drinking green tea. The river's have melted. And yes Graham, there were fish but we couldn't identify them due to the colour of the river! We also passed a crazy restaurant that was in the shape of an ocean liner. Dinner (you know we like to detail our eating habits to you!) was had in the hostel- amazing noodles and crispy vegetable rice…..it tasted like popcorn!

NB: The Chinese TV is random: the only English channel CCTV9 had a special show about President Wan Jinbao's visit to Cambridge university where apparently he had a shoe thrown at him by a member of the audience- undoubtedly it was about the quality of Chinese driving- China is in uproar about this!

Today started with some hell raising driving- had Jon and I not been so tired we would have been (in Jon's words) "kecking our pants!" There's London drivers and then there is Chengdu drivers! We arrived at the Giant Panda Breeding Centre just in time for breakfast- for the Panda's that is, not us! The Giant Panda's were really cute. (Jon compared them to a fat Alsatian; in terms of their height rather than there appearance) We saw baby panda cubs but they didn't look very happy about being in captivity which made Jon upset, so we didn't linger there long. Instead we moved on to the firefoxes- e.g. the red, cat, fox like panda's! (Jon: "Downsy, if you're reading this ha ha I've seen a firefox!") We took a million photos and some video footage that seemed amazing at the time but will undoubtedly bore you all upon our return! Our "tour guide" couldn't speak a word of English- actually, that's not true- he could say the word "panda!" So although he could tell us nothing, he showed us the best places to view all the different Panda's. All in all- had a pretty awesome morning. Or in the words of Carl "it was ACE!"

Booked our train tickets for Chongqing- off tomorrow afternoon to become sailors on the Yangzi!

Keep the messages coming, we are reading and enjoying them! Sorry about the lack of pictures but China has never heard of broadband! Lots of love xx