Chengdu

Our hostel in Chengdu was just what the doctor ordered. With amazingly soft beds, the best showers in the country, cheap beers, a DVD player in our room and some seriously good food, we spent our first day floating around in a blurred music video.

We ventured out of our peaceful sanctuary on day 2, exploring the shops in town and a monastery with a buzzing tea house. Later that evening, with our Chinese friends in tow, we walked off to a hotpot restaurant and celebrated the fact that we were still alive by trying to kill ourselves with the hottest hotpot imaginable.