Another overnight train - this one for 18 hours - was passed playing a card game called ' Backpacker' (apt!)

Chengdu is a lovely little town, much nicer than Xi'an, with ornate Chinese buildings, a friendly atmosphere and best of all NO SMOG!

Our first activity in Chengdu was to take a Chinese cooking lesson cooking spicy Sichuan food. Mark was a little reluctant but secretly quite liked his apron and enjoyed cooking his steamed spicy eggplant and Gung Po Chicken. After stuffing our faces with our own food Mark and I went off to explore the city stopping at a giant statue of Chairman Mao and the 'Peoples Park' where hundreds of locals were ballroom dancing, listening to opera, flying kites, rowing boats and drinking tea!

A few of us went out for drinks at some very cool Chinese bars and then we went for traditional Chinese hotpot - where everything is cooked in a giant tureen of broth on the table and you have to fish it out and dip it in spicy oil. Very yummy and very messy...Marks trousers were covered in oil when we had finished!!!!

The highlight of our visit to Chengdu was the visit to the Giant Panda breeding centre...fantastic to see the pandas in the flesh and we loved seeing 7 little cubs no bigger than your hand...very cute!!!