A bit further north and higher altitude meant Dali was a bit colder – out came the thermals again. Snow was visible on the tops of the surrounding hills and a little light rain. We stayed at another hostel to see how it was – the Jade Emu, run by an Aussie (obviously). The most westerners we've seen in one place so far.The hostel was excellent. They had good food and good sounding cheap tours on offer. We were tempted by a cormorant fishing tour &...

At some point in every trip there comes a time when I say to myself (and usually Owen too – I'm sure he waits for it) "We’re actually PAYING to do this…" (getting cold and wet, being trampled in the crush at the railway station, throwing up four times in the night – you get the picture).This time the moment came in Nanning. Our last day in Haikou on Hainan Island had been a bit of an anticlimax – the warm weather had been replace...

The weather is still pretty cold and the air pretty soupy; there is more snow on the hills behind campus now than when we left, and we've had several days of steady snow – enough to stay around for a while. So much for winter being over when we got back. But the Spring Festival decorations are still up along the river and we enjoyed a long walk to look at them on the weekend.We’ve had the reversal of the exodus pre Spring Festival – students...

The approach of Chinese New Year was obvious. Shops started stocking up on specialty goodies – bagged or boxed sets of everything from sweets and chocolates to coffee and tea to vacuum-sealed meats. All in festive red packaging. People headed home laden with bags and boxes to take to the family gatherings. Also lots of banners and scrolls for pasting over gates and doorways, red lanterns (fold out paper ones reminding me of the Christmas bells common when I...

After leaving Lanzhou early on a very cold morning, (the first airline I've come across where the cabin crew wear navy jeans, pink striped shirts and navy knitted vests), we flew into "Sunny Sanya" and immediately removed a few layers of clothing - which initially made our clothes feel loose. We actually wore T-shirts and had to get out the sunscreen. Our first impression of Hainan was “green”, with lush tropical vegetation, flowers everywhere and...