Hong Kong seemed such a modern city after some of the places we've been to recently. The public ransport system is great and it's so easy to get around and English is far more widely spoken than in the rest of China. Perhaps because of these things it means Hong Kong isn't quite as interesting as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, for example we didn't see a single duck, chicken or pig on a motorbike, coming to think of it, there wern't many motorbikes! It is a nice stopover city though and we enjoyed our few days there. Everything is spotlessly clean, the train from the airport into the city even has carpet on the floor and there were no stains on it! Everyone in the city was taking the threat of swine flu very seriously, especially after the outbreaks of bird flu and SARS in recent years. Many people were wearing surgical masks, alcohol hand gel dispensers were dotted about the city and signs were up in different places saying how many times a day the place was disinfected.

We took the peak tram up to the highest point on Hong Kong Island for views of the city. It impressive by day but the city is far prettier by night. Each night after dark there is a Symphony of Light show on Victoria Harbour where 44 buildings shine coloured lights, laser beams and searchlights all synchronised to music, we watched it one night from the Avenue of Stars. In contrast to the modern parts of the city there are some old areas of town too with shops selling traditional chinese medicine. We did also see a large building being built with bamboo scafolding around it!

It's interesting to see in this part of the world that people want their skin to be a white as possible. All face creams contain skin whitening ingredients and they are obsessed about covering up from the sun. They must really be puzzled by the foreigners who are out to get the best tan possible! A shop assistant looked at me as if I was crazy when I said I wanted to by a moisturiser without skin whitener in it!!

We then flew to Beijing to stay overnight before getting the Trans-Mongolian railway to Ulaanbaatar. It seems there they were even more determind not to let in anyone who may have had swine flu. Health Officials came on the plane when we arrived there and took all of our temperatures with a gun-like machine before anyone could get off, there were also cameras with heat sensors on checking us as we went through to immigration! All people from badly affected countries like America and Mexico had to go for more thorough checks.