By the time we got to Chengdu, I was settling in to a pretty nasty cold, and we were also a little sore from train travel and hiking and general travelers malaise. So when we saw a sign up at our hostel advertising massages for RMB 40/hour, we were easily convinced. We took a bus across town to the recommended place and walked in to what would resemble a storage unit to most folks back at home. But that’s what a lot of shops, etc are like here in cities, where space is at a premium. A lot of them even have metal doors that slide down when they’re closed, just like a storage unit. So we filed into the room and took our places at the massage tables. Soon it turned out that the RMB 40 was just for starters, we had all manner of add-ons to choose from. Lest you get the wrong idea, they weren’t the happy ending sort of add-ons. “Chinese Medicine… good for you” is what they said. Here’s what I looked like when they were done with me.

ouch

But, after scraping and cupping and some sort of heat lamp aim at the back of my head, I could actually breath through my nose again, and I coughed up God-knows-what amount of Chinese air that somehow never left my lungs and had congealed into an ugly mess. All told, the bill only came to RMB 80 each, so we couldn’t complain.

While in Chengdu, we also had to visit the panda breeding center, and we took a lot of pictures, because, well, pandas are just damn cute.

This is what the world's largest panda sperm bank looks like

And one more thing. Sichuan food really is hot, just like they warn you. But it’s oh so good.

Yes, that's sweat and tears.

We have pictures of the pandas and general stuff around Chengdu, as well as some from the Sichuan opera we got to go see. Check them out.