The morning after the hotpot and we could still taste chillies and allspice as we walked up the road to a different hostel as our place was overbooked (the new place has a bar/lounge area and a free pool table so we weren't too bothered). We had slightly miscalculated the time we had available mainly due to the beers the night before so rushed down to meet our Chinese friend Kay at1 to see the Pandas.

The journey to the breeding centre was fun by itself with Kay asking directions from a guy on a bike in the middle lane of a motorway while cars zoomed past either side but soon enough we arrived and met Blue Star. The first ones we saw were the smaller red pandas (about the size of a dog) which look a bit like a punk raccoon - check out the pictures. Then we came to the baby pandas, four of them in a wooden cot together, the oldest was three months and he kept trying to get up on the slippery surface then rolling around until a panda nurse came and gave him a wash with wet wipes, honestly it was so cute you are probably feeling nauseous reading this. Then the big lads themselves who defied all logic by being almost as gorgeous as their babies and there were dozens of them having a great time stuffing themselves with bamboo. The Chinese are really doing a great job breeding them and protecting them from extinction despite the Pandas not really pulling their weight reproductively.

It is fair to say that while I was looking forward to the P's Rachelle was not as enthusiastic as me but they completely overwhelmed our expectations and they are now Rachelle's favourite animal. Everyone we have spoken to has said that the trip to see them is one of the highlights of China so far probably only exceeded by the Great Wall in popularity. Anyway point made - if you find yourself in Chengdu at some point make it your business to get over to see them.

The rest of the day passed quickly, we arranged to go and see the England game with a mixed bunch from Holland, Denmark, Jamaica and the UK. Chuffed with the result then shocked later on when we managed to beat the French in the rugby, of course due to the time difference and some confusion as to where our hotel actually was I didn't manage to get in until 5:30am (Rachelle had sensibly gone to bed after the football) but what the hell. All in all a fantastic day and thanks again to Kay & Blue Star for their hospitality. So until the next installment hope everyone is doing great & drop us a line with your thoughts next time you get an opportunity.

Love R & A

(Panda Evangelists)

ps. We have added a few more pics to the panda photo album, if you are interested!