Nigel: When we were in Yangshou, we were told by one of the other travellers that Hong Kong was really cheap for electrical goods. We were already thinking about getting our own laptop, so we didn't have to use the hostel ones, but when the incident with the memory stick getting a virus, we thought it would make sense to buy one. So we had two aims in HK, try and seethe sights and try and buy a laptop. It was a tough ask, as we only had 2 days there before w...

Alison: We arrived in Macau following an overnight train to Shenzhen on the south coast of China, an unnecessarily long bus journey from the train station to the ferry port, and a ferry ride to the Macau terminal. We were not in the best of moods after this mammoth 19 hour journey and Nigel escaped with only one black eye! We successfully navigated to the hotel and were surprised when we were asked whether we wanted a luxury room since we both looked like a coupl...

Alison: As with Guilin, Yangshou didn't initially look exactly how the guidebooks had described it. We rolled in to a dusty old bus station and I had my first doorless toilet experience. Normally I run straight out of those toilets but almost 2 months in to China and I was less horrified at squatting with such a lack of privacy. I think I'm getting the hang of this travelling malarkey now :-) Don't worry though, I won't be leaving the door open wh...

Nigel: Guilin is famous for its stunning karst topography but most people have come to hear about the place as a result of the HSBC advert which shows fishermen using cormorant birds to catch fish. Though the famous Li River does run through the centre of Guilin, the fishing doesn't actually occur here. Instead it happens in Yangshou which will be our next entry. Guilin is surrounded by very tall, lush mountains which are curved at the tops. Many historical f...

Nigel: We had read and seen pictures of Ping' An before we had arrived and we knew that it was going to be something spacial, but we weren't prepared for what we saw when we got there. Ping' Am is a remote village about 1000 feet above sea level, which is only accessible via one road. We arrived into the town of Longshen which is at the foot of the hill, only to be welcomed by one of the ladies which was taking tourists up to Ping' An. We were he...