Hmm seem to have lost an entry on Beijing.
Am currently in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province smack bang in the middle of China. Also known in the west as Szechuan, this is the home of spicy cooking and I've had many a belly full of yummy firey dishes.
City itself is all fairly modern and busy but nearby is a Giant Panda breeding and research centre. Took a trip out there early in the morning to see the cute little (not nearly as big as I was expecting) black and white guys rolling about, muching on their bamboo and basically just being way too adorable. There were also red pandas, fox/racoon like fellas, also very cool. I did learn that pandas are actually an incredibly old species, left over from the dinosaur age by what kind of miracle no one really knows.

A famous Sichuan dish is hot pot and we went last night to try it. They have speciallybuilt tables with a hole cut out to hold a big metal bowl with a gas flame underneath. We went for the yin/yang one, half spicy and half mild (cos I'm a chicken!!!). But it proved too hot for even my vindaloo loving English friends!! We picked a selection of veggies and cooked them quickly in the boiling stock, chasing after bits of mushroom and potato with our chopsticks. Fun and messy.