WRESTLING PANDAS

Our third excursion was to see the giant pandas at a WWF rescue centre close to Xi'an. The weather was beautiful, in contrast to the previous day, and we were rewarded with a chance to see the pandas outside - instead of inside, behind bars, as they would've been on a hotter day. Most of the 14 giant pandas that now live there, had been orphaned by poachers or rejected by their mothers and rescued by local farmers in the nearby Quinling Mountains, although 2 of them had been bred there. They're amazing looking creatures and we could've watched them all day, especially the 2 play-fighting in the grass. We also got to feed a giant panda bamboo in China... another box ticked!

We visited the rescue centre, followed by lunch, with 4 other Brits - James & Mandy and Angus & Nina - and then we decided to cycle round the Xi'an city wall together that afternoon. We took turns on a tandem bike (another first!), as well as normal bikes and raced each other around the 14km perimeter, taking in 360 degree views of the surrounding city. All good fun, before the two of us prepared for our 16 hour sleeper train to Shanghai...