Chengdu

We flew from Hanoi up to Chengdu in the Sichuan province of China, arriving after 2am due to China's notoriously delayed flight network.

Chengdu is a city of over 14 million people. It doesn't feel that busy, and the CBD is clean and orderly. All motorcycles are electric, many people ride bikes, and there is a very good subway system.

We spent a day wandering, quickly discovering that no one speaks any English. Google translate is invaluable, and we can use it to communicate pretty easily- there is also a function that translates Chinese text using the camera. Luckily we downloaded the offline version, as all Google apps and websites are blocked in China, along with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

We managed to order a delicious lunch through good luck and by pointing at things. Sichuan food is some of the best in China. Lots of spices, including Sichuan chillies that numb the mouth (in a good way).

We visited a giant panda breeding and research centre, and saw 30-odd pandas, including red pandas. There was a range from large adults, to cubs, to newborns. They are pretty cute creatures. They seemed pretty happy munching on bamboo, taking baths, and sleeping in ridiculous positions. We also had our first taste of enormous Chinese crowds- something we would become very familiar with.

Finally, we did a cooking class making local specialties kung pao chicken and twice cooked pork, which were delicious and fun to make.