Today we woke early as we were undertaking an early morning cycle to moon hill, which is a huge limestone rock in the shape of the moon with a hole in the middle. On waking I didn't want to leave my cosy bed as I was still feeling very chesty but persevered and headed to reception. We chose our bikes and headed out in to the cool damp morning air. The temperature was probably about four degrees and had dropped significantly over the past twenty four hours... M...

We headed down early this morning and made the most of the free buffet lunch the hostel supplied. We both had toast, cereal and tried some of the Chinese breakfast especially the pork stuffed dumplings which were delicious. We also realised and were sad to see that Jorge and Karen were no longer with us and soon would be on their way back to a very hot Brisbane. Us remaining four were heading to the south so we took our taxi transfer to Shanghai airport were wo...

Today we were leaving at about eight thirty to get the bullet train to Shanghai. I was feeling a bit sniffy so thought breakfast would be a good idea... Feed a cold and all that. The buffet breakfast was really nice serving Chinese noodles, vegetable stuffed dumplings along with scrambled egg and toast. We tucked in and I took some small cakes for later and then headed to reception to meet Tommy. We took a local bus to the train station and awaited the bullet...

So the morning of the first day of 2013 was bright and sunny and we were met with a buffet breakfast which mainly consisted of noodles and rice, very filling. At nine we boarded a local bus to take us to Zhouzhuang. The bus ride was let's just say, an experience, the driver had the constant urge to slam on the brakes which sent you into the forward seat. The driving around this area beggared belief and culminated in observing a poor young girl being knocked off ...

Dawn broke for us on New Year's Eve with the train cruising along. Everyone actually slept well considering the air conditioning was on cold for some bizarre reason. The train eventually arrived into the town of Suzhou at 11am which Tommy informed us of a modest population of 10 million?! We took a taxi transfer with the driver surrounded by a metal cage which was reassuring... where were we? The hotel on arrival was very nice and the room was warm and pleasant,...