We head this morning to the train station heading on a long 32 hour 2000km trip through inner China to reach Chengdu. Chengdu is also the hub for travel to Nepal ( Lhasa) and Tibet: this is in the back our minds. Will go to the Panda reserve and enjoy the rare a precious animals. We may be out of contact for a few days but no worries. We just want to reflect on China one more bit: the cultures in these big cities are the same but truly a whole lot differ...

At this point we are getting pretty good at packing our backpacks although we had to get rid of a few things to make packing a bit easier. As carrying these 50lb or so bags around can be a challenge at times but non the less a great workout. We are now en route to chengdu via this lovely train for 32 hours. So far we have our own "room" to just us two on the bottom bunks but 2 more may come in at any time. As you can see from the picture it's quite cozy and bed...

Hello Ello! Used our early half of the morning to buy tickets to our next destination; Chengdu ( panda capital). The 32 hour train trip will be fun :( Used the day to walk around, found a mall of just cell phone stores: let's say 1000 stalls is a good estimate of local venders selling cell phones: only in China. After lunch we went to the Jade Buddha Temple: the Lama temple in Beijing was better. Spoiled our selves with an hour long cheap foot rub; hey, when...

I wakeeee uppp innn theeee morninggg feelinggg likeeee realllll s***yyyy; our very hard mattress gets all the compliments! After our morning back ache we went and had our free breakfast. Organized a bit and hit the road. Walked down side streets until we hit the busy Nanjing rd where we experienced more chinese interaction: "hey lady hey sir....nice watch, Rolex.... Nike Nike, you like Nike? " heard that X 20 at least. Went to the bund: a large section by the...

Back again, Shanghai again: new adventure. Stepping of the speed train we took the metro, scratch that: the cattle herd/ metro. After a jam packed metro ride we arrived to the big city but a way different feel. More like a NYC feel, the building are glowing with colour: neon lights guide our way through the streets. We find a coffee shop and we could swear we were back home, white people, English speaking-Starbucks feel. After a frustration packed hour tryi...