After what felt like the longest train ride so far (even though it wasn't even close to the length of the train ride from Moscow to Irkutsk) we arrived in Guilin and were both so happy that it was warm. We checked into a hostel which was down a back street, it seemed more in place with a seedy backstreet out of films than where a hostel would be. Once in the hostel though it was actually a really nice place. We dumped our stuff in the dorm room and went to get f...

Our first impressions of Chengdu (other than breaking the washing machine) were how much better the city was than Xi'an. We took a stroll down to the old quarter and walked around a bustling market. "I" was hungry so demanded (I don't know why but spat my dummy out) we went for food. We got to a hotpot restaurant to find that it only did fish and after our experience with fish in Xi'an decided not to be brave. We walked back to the old quarter and a few...

Our last day in Pingyao was not the most memorable day of the trip. It consisted of sitting around waiting to find out if we had a train for the night and what time if we did. When we eventually found out Sarah went for a massage and I finished reading an in depth account of Chinese history (only 60 pages so maybe not enough to be a scholar!) The train ride was also uneventful, other than watching Sarah trying to climb into the middle bunk (there isn't even enou...

Our last to days in Beijing were quite lazy where we did nothing but eat, drink and explore the various hutongs around our area. The food is the most memorable as on the 27th we went to a restaurant where they put burning coalsin a hole in the table then brought out the meat and the herbs /spices raw so we cooked our own dinner. It was just what we wanted and we left stuffed for just 4 pounds each. That evening we met up with everyone from the vodka train for on...

After our horrible day we decided to cut back on spending but our honcho (Alex) decided that he wanted to try and get our money back, so he came with us to the tea house. After a lot of angry gesturing the women agreed to give us half of the money back (what a legend Alex is!) As it was Chinese New Years Eve the day consisted of a soundtrack of fireworks (we are in China afterall). When we met the group that evening (we had gone our seperate ways that morning) J...