Our train ride to Chengdu was a fun one with us playing cards all the way. The lads decided to try some rice wine, which they soon regretted. It quickly became a punishment drink for the loser of the game.

This train became the beginning of us turning into a spectators sport for the Chinese. Laura was unfortunately in a cabin with three Chinese girls who liked to poke her and repeat everything she was saying. They were quickly renamed the wicked witches.

We arrived in Chengdu early that morning and spent the day organising our excursions and deciding whether to go to Tibet. After a long discussion we decided to go for it as how often do you have the chance to go and see Mount Everest.

(Laura)
The next morning we got up early to go and see the pandas! We drove half an hour and reached the Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre. At this point me and Sas were like four year olds in a sweet shop. We started wandering and soon spotted our first panda, it was unbelievable to be so close and several of us said "is is real?" It was amazing to see the pandas so close, they look just like cartoon characters. In one of the pens there were three two year old pandas playing together. Here we witnessed what must be the laziest play fight in history! In the next pen were four one year olds who were gorgeous. One in particular seemed to want to please the crowd, he climbed a very slim tree and promptly got stuck. Being the pro tourists we are we got several videos of the poor panda trying to get down. After much laughing from the crowd he managed to bend the branch over far enough to take a brave jump off the end, getting smacked in the face by the branch as it flew past him. (I should mention that everyone was enjoying this, not just us!)

After a walk around the centre our guide let us loose for a walk. We had heard that for an extra charge you could hold a panda (I won't mention numbers at this point! Obviously places like this see me coming) Having been told by many people in the UK that I would not be able to, I felt I had a point to prove. After handing over the cash I was led to a small room and given a robe, gloves and shoe covers to wear. After waiting in the line with two Americans who assured me the panda would rip my hand off the first chance it got I was ready. These women also asked if I thought the centre drug the pandas (Americans!!!) Expecting a cute little panda I could hold in my arms was mistake as staff led out a beastly one year old who was lifted onto my lap and was nearly as big as me. Much to the Americans relief the panda was more interested in honey covered bamboo than human flesh and I left all limbs in tact. Holding the panda was an amazing experience and the highlight of my trip so far, it was amazing to get so close to animal that probably won't be around for much longer.

After an exciting morning we headed back for some lunch then onto the local market to look for some coats for our Tibet trip. After what felt like an endless amount of time we bought coats and headed back to the hostel and got ready for a night out.

We headed over to the bar area of Chengdu and were surprised to see how busy it was. We started with a few drinks in a quiet pub before heading in search of a more lively place. While walking along we met two hospitality staff outside a club who quickly directed us into the club. Thinking we were heading to the bar we followed the guys inside, however they had a different plan for us. We were taken straight to a podium and the people dancing on it were thrown off to make space for the 7 of us. It was very surreal and we soon realised we were the main attraction. For some reason everyone kept buying us drinks, which being the Brits we are, we kept drinking.

Soon the lads were starting to be approached by Chinese men who offered them different 'beauties'. Not long after this we decided it was probably time to try our luck in a different club. Not before we'd thrown some shapes and Ben had tried to teach one of the 'beauties' how to do the water sprinkler dance.

The next club was a little more relaxed and we were able to dance on the dance floor. Soon more Chinese men came over to join us and were buying the lads drinks. It's very strange here, the girls tend to just sit while the men wont leave us alone and want to dance and drink with us.

The evening ended with Ben finding half a bottle brandy on an unoccupied table and deciding to try and drink it. The bouncers were having none of this and all seemed to swoop on us. We decided it was time to leave.

Overall it was one of the most funny and surreal nights. We are looking forward to the next Chinese night out.

The rest of our time in Chengdu was spent shopping for Tibet and exploring the city. It has some beautiful old parts which is exactly how you would imagine China to look like. It also has multiple parks to wander around which are really tranquil. One of the parks had a lake with boats on, we quickly hired some and spent half an hour racing around. Unfortunately not all the boats were as fast as Sarah and Toms who left everyone in their wake.

The parks seem like a real community area with beautiful gardens and water features. It's something you could never imagine being in England because people would just destroy it. On one of our days we just sat and fed the coy carp for nearly an hour. It's so relaxing you don't even realise how long it's been.

We left the boys and Georgina in Chengdu. They headed back to Beijing for a few days before heading home, while we boarded our train for Lhasa. It has been brilliant having them with us and we will really miss them.