Before I left my apartment I found online the hotel we had booked and wrote the address down in English- 96 Shanda Road.Ruth and I met Echo at the bus station as she had offered to help us buy tickets for Jinan.Echo helped us get the tickets and then found the coach for us and we got on.The journey was nearly 2 hours and I slept for most of it.We arrived in Jinan around 1pm and decided we would find the hotel, check in and then get some lunch.I showed the guard outside the station the address, he struggled because it wasn't in Chinese, but he helped us get a taxi and the taxi drove around for ages and we had the horrible feeling he didn't know where he was going.When he finally stopped it was on Shanda Road, and it was number 96, but it was a hairdressers.

We went in, hoping perhaps the hotel was part of the same building.No such luck, it was the wrong road.There was a girl in there who spoke some English but she hadn't heard of JJ Inns.She took us across the road to an internet café so we could try to find the address in Chinese.When we showed her the hotel on screen she seemed to recognise it and took us outside and told the taxi driver where we needed to go.The taxi drove for a bit and then stopped at a hotel, but it was the wrong one.He then took us back to the hairdresser on the road we were on originally but the girl pretended not to see us.

We walked for about 2 hours in total.We didn't really know what we were going to do, because we had already paid for the hotel online, but nobody seemed to know where it was.We stopped at McDonalds (forgive me for I have sinned… but sometimes you have to put your need to eat and have a wee before your pride!) and then kept walking and walking.I'd remembered from the map that we had seen in the internet café there was an S. on the road name, so suddenly thought maybe it was Shanda Road, but south.We walked and walked and walked and were talking about giving up when we suddenly came across it…Even though the website lists it as JJ Inns 96 Shanda Road, it is in fact JI Inns 96 Shanda Road South, a different name and a different road!

We checked in without any problems and got to the room and it all suddenly seemed worthwhile.Back in both of our apartments in Liaocheng we have hard wooden beds, like sleeping on planks.But in the hotel we two single beds with proper western style mattresses and a hot and powerful shower.Hooray!We got showered and dressed up to go out and the receptionist wrote in Chinese the place to show the taxi driver where we could get food.We walked for ages down the food street but everything was Chinese and we had been told we would be able to get more Western food in Jinan.We walked back to the main road and after some time walking we came across a Pizza Hut.We stopped and looked at each other, did a high-five, and then went to queue.I wouldn't often go to Pizza Hut in the UK but after having eaten Chinese food for a month it was a very welcome discovery.

While we were waiting outside for a table there was a Chinese guy outside and he started talking to us in English.We asked him where we could go to get a drink after we had eaten and maybe find some other foreigners.He said he didn't know how to explain it.We were taken to our table and discovered they actually had proper white wine on the menu so we shared a bottle.I hadn't had any wine for so long it went straight to my head and I became very excited about the fact their vegetarian pizza option actually had pineapple, sweetcorn and mushroom on it.This is MY topping, the combination I usually have to order as a create-your-own at any pizza restaurant at home.Oh the pizza seemed so good, real pizza dough, vegetables, melting mozzarella cheese.We even got a bit carried away and ordered dessert.Tiramisu… in China!

The guy we had met outside came to our table and said he would take us to the bar when we had finished eating.We went to find him and he said there was a bar nearby.We asked if there would be foreigners there but he said he hadn't been there before.As we walked, I asked him how long he had been speaking English.He said he had been teaching himself for just one year from books and the internet.I thought this was amazing!His English was as good as some of the people in Liaocheng who say they have been learning for six years.He also told us he used to work at Pizza Hut, he recently got a new job but he still goes there to chat to his old colleagues.He asked us to give him an English name, so I told him to say his Chinese name slowly.The last part of his name sounded a bit like Shaun so named him Shaun.

When we got to the bar, it turned out to be more of a nightclub.Shaun showed us the menu but we thought the drinks were too expensive so we told him we would rather go somewhere cheaper.As we went to leave, the manager started talking to Shaun and he told us they didn't want us to leave because they like my 'golden hair' and thought we are beautiful… so they filled our table with bottles of free beer and a big bowl of melon pieces and a bowl of popcorn.It felt quite naughty to except so much free stuff just for being English!The bar staff were watching our glasses and as soon as they emptied they would refill them.As I started to get more drunk, when one of the bar staff came over, I gave him an empty glass and when he refilled my glass I made him fill his too.We did 'cheers' with our glasses and then he drank it in one.Later another bar man came over to fill my glass so I did the same with him and when we did 'cheers' he drank his down in one too.At one point they were both stood near the table, so I made sure all three glasses had some beer and then did 'cheers' with them both and drank my beer down in one just like they did.They thought this was brilliant!Girls in China don't really seem to drink- at least not like us English girls ;) There was a clown in the corner making random balloon sculptures and animals and they started bringing us balloons as well.

When all the free beer was gone, we asked Shaun to take us to a KTV.They only had large rooms left so we had a huge room just for the three of us.We asked him to stay with us and sing too but he wasn't as dunk as we were and he only sang one song.We had booked two hours and ordered some more beer but after a while he was just sat there very quietly, every now and then he would clap and say our singing was wonderful, but he looked like he might fall asleep.

When the time ran out, Ruth still wanted to carry on singing so we paid for one more hour.Shaun had work the next day, so we told him we would be ok without him if he would rather leave, but he could also stay if he wanted to.He decided to leave as it was already Friday morning by this point.He said next time we come to Jinan he would get some more of his friends together and we could all go out together, so we swapped numbers with him, said goodbye and carried on singing.When the hour ran out I got a taxi to the hotel with Ruth (I had picked up the business card from reception so no repeat of our earlier nightmare trying to find the place) and the hotel reception was selling beer so we bought a few bottles to take back to the room and stayed up chatting and drinking for another few hours.