I am rushing - somehow one full day left in Chengdu has withered away to nothing, and we have exactly four minutes to leave this internet joint, jump in a taxi and head to the station.

'The station' being the operative part of that sentence: we are off to catch a FORTY-something hour train to Shanghai.

Oh Lord, I cannot think too much about it. Forty hours in a confined, smoky, stinky carriage with evil toilets ... I'm not sure how that could be GOOD news ...

I will not be able to blog while we are on board said train, so I wanted to put up some posts about lovely, yummy, scrummy Sichuanese food before leaving. But no time! So this pic illustrating exactly what 'spicy' connotes here in chilli-loving Sichuan will have to do as an appetite tease until next we meet ...

Oh, and the chilli-oil sauce? It really is indescribably good - it's hot and piquant and smoky and nutty all at once.

See you on the other side of forty-some hours, Internet.