I had a straight razor to my neck when the earthquake hit. The barber asked why I was shaking the table, then we both realised it was a quake.
I ran to the entrance of the shop - when I was younger, I lived in Japan, and they taught us there to get under a doorway. The city and I emerged shaken and relatively unscathed: a slight cut below the ear and a few tiles missing from - ironically - the China Engineering Corporation Building on Renmin Road South.
Thousands of people rushed out into the streets and congregated in open spaces to wait things out. Men and women enjoying an afternoon nap had to run out in their underwear, and young people carried their grandparents into the streets.
Most people seemed shaken, but unafraid. They stopped to take pictures and gathered in circles to talk. It was probably one of the strongest feelings of togetherness I have felt in Chengdu, with everyone exchanging looks of relief and surprise.
Most shops closed for the day, and most locals lingered in public places talking and listening to the radio. An ambulance siren could be heard in the distance. In the city centre and within the second ring road there was no major visible damage. But near the south railway station a water main had burst, sending muddy water into the streets.
Phone connections were sporadic. The heavy load of calls brought the network down for brief periods. Information about the quake arrived almost immediately via SMS, until phone lines went dead for a few minutes.
There was a slight aftershock approximately 20 minutes after the initial earthquake. Many locals had already moved back into their houses, and the aftershock sent them scattering back into the streets. I went to my ninth-floor apartment to grab my camera and computer, and I was waiting with my neighbours for the lift down when the aftershock hit. We flew down the stairs and back to the safety of open space. We experienced another tremor at 7.10pm.