Chengdu (29 April – 2 May)
Notice the gap in the dates there? No error in my timekeeping; the gap represents a 20 hour bus trip which actually took closer to 40 hours! I should have known this trip wasn't going to arrive on schedule when our ancient sleeper bus arrived at the departure platform 30 minutes late, received mechanical inspections and repairs on the platform before leaving another 30 minutes later, and took another hour just to reach the outskirts of Lijiang due to further mechanical pit-stops by the side of the road. Although nothing seemed to be repaired during any of these stops, the drivers decided to keep tinkering anyway – really, there's no rush... Even though these inspections were a regular feature of the remainder of the trip, to be fair they weren't the primary reason for the 20 hours of lateness. The main reason would be the countless hours we spent standing still amongst a jam of government blue lorries stretched as far as I could see behind and in front of us. Not sure whether this was typical, or due to construction work and road washouts, but certain sections of the road were either axle-deep in water, or else so narrow as to be only traversible to one direction of traffic at a time. As I was the only foreigner on the bus, and my language skills weren't up to much, it was actually a bit stressful at times trying to figure out what was going on – especially the first time we stopped for dinner, given that I didn't know that the local custom was to walk into the kitchen and select the ingredients you want cooked; so I meekly sat at my table, wondering where everyone was wandering off to (toilets?), why the service was so poor (“they can see us sitting here, but they still haven't brought out the menus!”), and then how the hell everyone was getting served food without (to my knowledge) ordering anything. Eventually someone with a little english took pity on me and lead me to the kitchen to point at random vegetables, and I duly received my rather bland meal shortly afterwards. I wasn't alone in wondering where we were, and when we'd eventually get to Chengdu, and some of my fellow passengers started to get anxious and make urgent calls when it became obvious that we were still nowhere near our destination as the sun set on our second night on the bus. We actually arrived in Chengdu at 3am, but at this time of day there was no point attempting to either find accommodation or onward travel, so we all just slept on the bus until the terminal opened around 6am.

Exhausted and a little disoriented, I somehow managed to find the Chengdu Mix Hostel – alas, given the time of morning, there were no vacancies. I was dying on my feet by this stage, and in desperate need of a shower, so decided to splurge on a room in the affiliated hotel further up the road. This was the most extravagent accommodation I stayed at in the whole of my travels, and considering my condition was well worth the 138RMB/night. The shower, Western toilet (that was capable of flushing toilet paper! Something of a rarity in China...), big bed and relative quiet were just what I needed. Chengdu is a big city, but for the most part lacks the beauty of Kunming, and suffers from pollution in the Fulan River which bisects the city – along with the associated stench when the weather is warm. There are, however, some beautiful parks, temple complexes and public spaces within the city, which are great places to visit. I met up with Rachel from New Jersey, and (mostly thanks to her organisation – I don't make a very good leader!) managed to see some interesting sights and experience some of the culture. The Sichuan opera show felt a bit like a tourist trap at first, but it's actually really entertaining – especially the erhu (Chinese fiddle/violin) performance, the foot juggling and the costumes. The nearby Giant Buddha is impressive, but mobbed by tourists, while the Panda Research Centre is well worth a visit – whether you're interested in conservation, or just think they're cute! Mind you, I wouldn't want to have the job of some of the researchers we met there, who's job it was to make regular notes of panda activity throughout the day – after all, they really don't get up to much aside from eating and sleeping... It's also possible to have your photo taken holding a panda or red panda for a sizeable-but-for-a-good-cause fee. At night, the light- and water-show in the square in front of Mao's statue is well worth a visit.