After Shanghai we flew to Chengdu (on a tiny, crappy plane that sounded a) like a tractor, and b) like it was changing gears and struggling the whole time. Jack and I held hands and ground our teeth the whole flight).

Chendu is a medium big city – about 13 million. High in the mountains. It’s a very nice city. We were there for 6 days and the weather was great for a couple of days, because it had rained – then the smog settled again. The highlight of Chengdu is the PANDAS. Which are every bit as awesome as you’d think. They smell like honey and rice and they are playful and clumsy and fat. I could watch them all day.

The research center is in beautiful grounds and its very well organised and efficient. We watched a film about artificial insemination which was brilliantly euphemistic and coy. “When pandas, like humans, become 15 they dream of having a girlfriend and falling in love” … who knew 🙂