Ok another awful overnight train that consisted of way to much noise from the locals and a very ill feeling of motion sickness. We arrived in Chengdu at 5.30am to a welcoming sight of rain. It was cool and refreshing.

Our hotel was only a short distance away which was good and luckily we could check in pretty much straight away. Then after a quick breakfast of rice and sponge cake, we were off to see the Pandas.

We arrived and Stoney led us straight to the first enclosure. Luckily enough just as we arrived the first panda was walking outside. Was amazing to see a panda in real life. It was unbelievable. He was quite big but only 3 yrs old. In his glass house, he was stood up with his paws against the window kind of posing for us. So cute!!

The next enclosure had four pandas in. One was sleeping and the other 3 were all eating. Apparently they sleep for 20 hours a day and pretty much just eat for the other 4 hours. Sound like a good life! All the pandas in the reserve were overweight.

We also got to see some panda cubs in a glass room. They are only in there for a short space of time but we were not allowed to take pictures in case they get sued for animal cruelty. The cubs were all so lively and playing with each other. They were like big teddy bears awwwwwwww.

We also saw a few more enclosures with other pandas in but they were all either sleeping or eating as usual :-) We also got to watch a movie about the research centre and the work they do. Was a bit too detailed!! Saw little hairless things being born which was gross..... but also a lot of pandas when they give birth litterally freak out and dont know whats happening. The babies pandas scream when they are born and the mums hit them or throw them as they find them scary. it was so horrible to see. I had to cover my eyes.... Laura just got grossed out by the movie :-)

We also got to see some red pandas which were a lot smaller. Kind of like racoons. They were very lively.

We were completely overwhelmed by the whole experience. Were buzzing the whole bus journey back.

Had a pizza which was fab and then went back to the room to freshen up. Our room was amazing, now we had time to appreciate it. Had a real oriental feel, with purple lighting (mood lighting lol) and a lot of nice wooden furniture. The big windows overlooked the patio area for lunch which was filled with flowers and plants. Our bathroom was inside the room which was strange, kind of like a little glass room, but with a roll down blind so we could have privacy. It was so funny!! we took a few snaps which we will put on later.

We went to a local restaraunt for dinner for a hot pot. its a big steaming dish half of which is a spicy sauce and the other is more of a bland one. We had to cook all our own meat and veg in it. it was definately a good experience but we were just way to tired to enjoy it i think. Laura didnt like the thought of us cooking our own meat as we didnt know if it was definately done properly and also why pay for a meal that we have to cook! Fair point! We were probably complete moods by this point due to lack of sleep ;-)

Early night for us i think

Will update soon

N&L x x