I had breakfast at the hostel and then took a taxi to the bus station.I had a five hour bus journey to get to Jinan for some training.This time I made sure I got a window seat to avoid any 'overspill' from the aisle!I slept for most of the journey and this time nobody was sick on me, hooray! I had a call from Miss Shi's daughter Alyssia to say they were waiting in the McDonalds across the road from the station.It took me ages to cross the road because so many ...

Qingdao has been occupied by Germany and by Japan during its history, but has been referred to as "Bavaria-on-the-East-China-Sea" or "China's Switzerland" which should give you some idea of how different it is to Liaocheng!The hostel was called Beach Castle and looks like an old German castle, but on walking around the grounds, I discovered it was actually an old prison.So I suppose technically I can now say I have spent the night in a priso...

My bus was due to leave at 8:30 in the morning.I made myself a bus-picnic and went to the station.I was a bit nervous about getting on the wrong bus, but I showed the ticket collector my ticket, and I also showed the driver once I got on the bus.There was already at least one person in each pair of seats so I had to sit next to a Chinese girl but she didn't smile or anything so I just put in my iPod, put on my eye mask, and relaxed.The journey was going to be a...

I was still feeling quite ill, but Lilly got in touch asking if I would like to go shopping.She had said last night that she would help me bargain for a better price, so I decided to go.We met in town and then walked to an indoor market sort of place.She helped me to bargain and I got a few warmer tops ready for when it gets cold.When we left the shops I smelt something really sweet.I asked her what it was and she ran across the road and bought a bag of popcorn...

I wasn't feeling very well due to a cold and sore throat, but I went to meet Echo at the bus station at about 11:30.She was late so I had to stand in the station being stared at by Chinese people for ages.She helped me buy my ticket for Qingdao for Monday and then I walked into town to do some shopping.I went to a place called 'Fondu' for my lunch.It was actually a kind of hotpot.They brought me a pan of boiling water with spices in it, and a plate of raw veget...