I beginning to get a bit sick of all these cities. It seems like abit of a shame, we are travelling riht through China, but only really etting to see one aspect of their culture. To be sure, there are unique aspects to every city we have visited - but when you get down to it, a city is a city, and these cities may as well have been in Europe. We've seen some pretyt quirky stuff - like an aerobics class on the corner of a busy intersection, in the middle of the ni...

We took an overnight train from Chengdu to Kunming, and after 23 hours I truly, truly could notwait to nget off that f**king train lol. Every now and thensomeone would leave the door iopen to the toilets, and a disgusting stench would waft into our carriage. It was best to hold your nose (and roll up your trousers) when usin the train squat toilets, especially with so many big bumps! (gross, eh?) Because of the earthquake, we had to take the old-fashioned slow tr...

So the highlight of chengdu was def. the PANDA consevation center! We all gathered early in the morning in the hotel lobby (spiral staircases, iumspressive marbnle pillars....and two purple, plastic "chandaliars"?!) and everyone was bouncing around with excitement, which probably wasnt helped by the breakfast "juice", which tasted and looked like pure cordial. The pandas were incredible, so adorable and it was just so cool to be so close to ...

Dinner on our first night in Chengdu was just opposite from our hotel in a resturant whose white linen tablecloths and refined gold decor couldn't have been more different to the night before (yet the food was still dirt cheap!) Us vegies seperated from the pack (shunned) and ordered a bunch of yummy dishes, which wer spun round and round on the circle plate in the center of the table (this is very normal in chinese resturants). Chengdu is renowned for its food...

The markets of Xi'an are much nicer than those in Beijin! In Beijing, the constant, relentless tugging and shouts of "Hey lady! Lady! You want to look here!" can be tiring and overwhelming. The pressue of "What your price?" when you havn't even asked for their price and their attempts of persuasion "Look at my stuff! Very nice, Very cheap!" has the opposite effect. Far from making me want to buy, I want to run! That said, I would alw...