Giant Pandas, Giant Buddas and Giant Terracotta Warriors

Pandas are cute. Kind of stupid, but very cute. We visited a Panda breeding centre just out of Chengdu - Kate was very excited. So was I, they were great. As far as we can tell, pandas are perfectly evolved for sleeping and eating. Everything else (reproduction, walking) seems to be a bit trickier. They're not really helping themselves survive!

The next day our bus broke down. Not quite as dramatic a story, it was just a city bus, and another one pulled up a few minutes later, but it had us worried for a moment! We were on our way to Leshan, home to the world's biggest buddha. It's pretty big - 71 metres high. There were huge crowds of Chinese tourists, all armed with cameras and elbows... not all bad mind you, one guy gave us pea flavoured lollys. (That's a lolly that tastes of peas.) We got round the corner and quickly threw them away!

Our last day in Chengdu was wet, and we got drenched while walking the streets looking for an art gallery. We didn't find it, and just went back to the hostel and browsed the internet, while waiting for our train to Xian.

Which is where we are now! We saw the Terracotta Army yesterday - it's cool. Definitely one of the best things we've seen in China, although I think we both expected a bit more. It's all a bit dated now - the 360 degree cinema would have been more impressive when it was new, 15 years ago, and the buildings are all plain grey concrete. However, when you see the army itself, you forget it all! They stand in a 200m long hanger, and are incredibly detailed. Again, there were loads of tourists and Kate's enjoying the pushing and shoving a little too much!

Xian itself is a nice city. Lots of shopping and bargaining to be done, and we've found some great street food including fried pancakes, lamb kebabs and duck sandwiches. In fact, I think it's lunchtime!