Spice Up Your Life

Chengdu is the largest city in Sichuan province and is best known for 2 things: spicy food and pandas.  So, not surprisingly, top of our list are sampling the local cuisine and visiting the Pandas. 
Phil and Mike had already spent a night in Chengdu on their way from Xian to Lijiang and Mike (highly organised) had found a good place to stay near the centre of town. 
Sam's Guesthouse may not be the latest business venture of the Footie Show host, but his influence seems to have been felt as it appears that the place is staffed entirely by young girls.
Sam's girls organise for us to visit the Panda Breeding Centre (PBC as distinct from ABC or EBC) on the outskirts of the city.  It needs an early start as the panda feeding time is about 9am and after that burst of activity they spend the rest of the day sleeping.   There are plenty of Pandas out and about and some cubs on view.  There is also the opportunity to get up real close with one if you make a sizeable donation.
We stumble on hot-pot by accident.  We are looking for a Sichuan restaurant, end up in a Japanese one by mistake and then try the restaurant next door as it looks well frequented by Chinese, and this turns out to be a hot-pot establishment.  The restaurant has a book of English translations and with the waitress doing the cooking we end up with a great meal.  Even Mike, who is not a fan of hot food and was understandably a little apprehensive even enjoys it.