At this point, I wonder whether they’ve realised that I might not have entirely followed the rules on road crossing as a pedestrian, and wonder what other little local cultural faux pas I’ve managed to make. The fact that the security man charging towards me has a gun also doesn’t fill me with delight and I decide that I’ll just stay standing where I am to avoid panicking the armed man.

Just as I expect to be arrested, the security man smiles and with both hands he hands me a passport. I wondered initially what I’m supposed to do with this passport I’ve been given, until I realise that it’s mine and that I’d left it at the security area.

An idiot abroad….

My initial plan was to get the Ibis hotel to assist in booking a taxi, but they said that the taxi services didn’t operate like that and it would be expensive if they tried. They instead wrote down in Chinese that I wanted to go to the airport and they also wrote the price that they thought I should be charged. I was then told to stand outside in a certain place and local taxi drivers would stop if I waved at them, then I should proffer them my piece of paper. To me, this sounded like a right bloody hassle. But, after reviewing my choices, hassle it had to be.

Anyway, after around 30 seconds of my vaguely waving at some cars, a taxi pulls over. But there’s someone in the front seat (other than the driver) and so I assume that he can’t pick me up. So, I stand there looking confused in my very British way. The driver gets out and ushers me into the car in what, if I’m being honest, looked a grumpy manner. At this stage the driver doesn’t know where I want to go, so I’m confused at his confidence. Although to be fair, I had seen one other European all week, so someone standing with a bag outside a hotel looking for a taxi is quite likely wanting the airport.

So, I’m now in this taxi, wondering how much ransom will be demanded for my safe return, as I’m sure I must be being kidnapped. However, they now know I want the airport as I’ve handed over the paper that the hotel gave me. The driver speaks no English at all, but the other passenger knows about eight words, so he conducts negotiations. Since we’re now trundling along in the taxi, I don’t feel that I have any negotiating strength here if a high price is demanded. Then the passenger asks for my phone, so I assume that I’ve lost that as part of this kidnap. It transpired that he was trying to look at my boarding pass to see which terminal I wanted (there was I think one terminal for domestic and one for international, next to each other, but with separate dropping off points). But, back then, I used printed boarding passes, so I didn’t have one as I was getting it at the airport. So, after five minutes of my wondering what this man was jabbering on about, we had a lovely journey in the car in total silence. Which, to be honest, I quite liked, as conversation was never going to work out.

About two minutes before we arrived at the airport, the passenger in front said “40” (he wasn’t seemingly involved in the taxi operation, but the driver obviously decided he didn’t want to engage with the idiotic English person, so the passenger could do it instead), which is what the hotel said was the maximum fare I should pay. I was firstly moderately irritated that the taxi driver was getting two fares here, but then I quickly realised that I wasn’t being mugged or kidnapped and I was being asked to pay the fare that was reasonable. The photo that I took was one of relief that I’d been dropped off at the airport and I was ready to board my flight.

Then I realised that I had allowed six hours to get to the airport, and I had arrived in twenty minutes, so I was now 5 hours 40 minutes early for my flight. Although, to be fair, this happens a lot….. If I ever go back to Chengdu, I’d be getting the Metro though, thank goodness for improvements in public transportation.

Back in 2014, British Airways decided that China was their future and they started a flight to Chengdu as their third destination in the country, as they already flew to Shanghai and Beijing (as well as Hong Kong). There was a documentary at the time where BA management, including their boss then Willie Walsh, said how important China was to them, although their enthusiasm waned and Chengdu was dropped a few years later, in early 2017. This flight was in Club World, or business class, with the aircraft being the Boeing Dreamliner.

The screen for the IFE.

The foldable foot rest, which then joined together with the main part of the seat to form a bed. BA have recently announced a new Club Suite, which looks amazing, so the days of having to step over someone else will soon be firmly in the past.

The menu.

The watermelon, feta and cucumber salad.

The Szechuan braised pork with bean curd, an appropriate dish as this was the area of China that we were flying to.

The summer berry cheesecake with mascarpone cream.

The breakfast menu.

Fresh fruit and the mango fruit smoothie. The smoothies on BA are world class and I always tried to get refills if they had enough.

The continental breakfast option.

I took these items from the Club Kitchen on board to nibble on between meals.

I can’t remember much about these meals, primarily because I ate them six years ago, but I was rarely disappointed with BA’s food. I also know that I got my first choice for all meals on this flight, which is always a bonus. Unfortunately, I didn’t note the registration number of the aircraft or much else.

This was my view when I got off the Metro, a building so big that it was almost impossible to photograph it in one go. I’ve never seen anything so substantial before, a crazy piece of commercialism.

It’s a sprawling building, with 18 million square feet of floor space.

This is the mall’s official photo, they probably had to go back about half a mile to take this and get the whole building in.

Some photos of the interior, which I remember wasn’t all finished when I went. It also wasn’t particularly busy and many shops weren’t let. There are two 1,000 room hotels at the shopping mall, as well as a water park, ice-skating rink and cinema. But, although it may have felt just a bit too big, it was nonetheless still quite marvellous to see the largest shopping mall in the world and I did enjoy my Subway experience here.

And this was the first time that I tried to order a Subway in China. I find the ordering process difficult enough in English if I’m being honest, but I bravely decided that I could get away with pointing. So, I go in and there was a friendly member of staff who spoke hardly any English, but she excitedly got on the phone to tell them about my arrival. A manager appeared from nowhere about thirty seconds later and she spoke nearly perfect English, she was thrilled as I was the first English speaking customer she’d served in months and she wanted to practice the language. At the time, and indeed probably now, Chengdu city centre doesn’t attract huge numbers of English visitors.

I don’t go to Subway much, primarily as I’m moderately obsessed with Quiznos, although I don’t get to visit there very often. But, this was one of the better Subways that I’ve visited and the menu at the time was near identical to the US menu (unlike when I visited a Subway India, which is more of a different set-up) and the food tasted fine. I didn’t really take photos in the same way back then, although at least I have a picture of my American looking Sub, which is also in American looking branding of subway.com that I don’t think I thought about at the time. I say that it was the first time that I ordered a Subway in China, it was also the last, I never got round to going to another one after this.