Well China is never dull - just when we were feeling a little isolated and annoyed with the rain - sunshine appeared in the form of some awesome locals who ended up helping us celebrate Brian's Birthday and he even got interviewed for national TV!

On the eve of Brian's Birthday we were heading out for dinner when a couple of Chinese students stopped us on the street to ask if we would come to their party and speak English with the students.Since we were hungry we said "ok, we'll come along for 10 minutes and have a chat".We got to the school and there were 50 students there all waiting enthusiastically for English speakers to turn up.3 hours later we left the school with huge grins on our faces, exhausted from all the dancing and singing and high spirits.What a great bunch of kids! (see photos).

They had beer for the foreign backpackers they could drag off the street and milk for themselves (and me!).I have never been to a party and drunk Milk all night.It was good milk though, as it was flavoured with apple juice.It was nice to meet other backpackers too although we were so swarmed by the Chinese kids that there was no chance of swapping stories from the road with the other backpackers!

The students found out it was Brian's Birthday so they all sang Happy Birthday to him and then tried to guess his age.The first guesses came in at "30" so it made Brian's day!!We had to give them a clue in the end and tell them he was probably the same age as their Fathers.

The next day (Brian's actual Birthday) we went out for a celebratory lunch at the Pizza restaurant.While there, the owner came up and introduced himself and asked if he could interview us for CCTV4 - the Chinese English TV channel.Of course we were up for this - next thing a camera crew materialise and hey presto - we're telling the camera about how nice we think Yangshuo is.The owner stayed for a chat afterwards and when he found out we were there for a Birthday, he said the meal and drinks were on the house - so kind and much appreciated!Feeling a little overwhelmed by his kindness we wandered off down the street afterwards grinning our heads off once again.

That night, we went out for dinner to the Indian Restaurant owned by the man from Darjeeling and it was quiet in the restaurant that night.So, we ended up sitting down with him and his girlfriend, the cook, and the waiter discussing India and China.It was one of those evenings where conversation just kept on flowing and of course India has always been one of our favourite topics of discussion!Since it was Brian's Birthday the owner bought out the Plum wine after dinner so more drinks were consumed. The hospitality and friendliness of the locals has been quite overwhelming and it's the sort of place that is going to be really hard to leave.By the way, it stopped raining today.We have however started our "countdown to Tibet".18 days and counting……. :0)