Same picture again I am afraid as we haven't been able to upload our pictures yet. What an amazing day we had yesterday, after writing our blog we had a look around the shops and market stools and I managed to do some bargaining on a bracelet.In the afternoon 10 of the group got a mini bus to a quieter part of the Li River where we got in our Kayaks and headed out, it was obvious from the start that we were not going to end up dry, as everytime you lifted the oar...

We arrived in Yangshuo after our epic 23 hour train ride (luckily we were not near the loo's this time) and a 1.5 hour bus ride, so we were keen for a hot shower and some good food. Our hotel is called Fawlty Towers, unfortunately no Manuel, but it is certainly an interesting place, with building work going on outsde so it feels like we are in Carry on Abroad. We hit the town about 8ish and it is really beautiful, we are surrounded by peaks and the place is full ...

Just a quick update before we get on our 23 hour train ride. We arrived in Shanghai slightly sleepy after a 17 hour train ride and not much sleep as the smell from the toilets kept wafting passed us. The city is so different from Beijing and Xi'an and arriving on Saturday meant the shopping areas were packed in was manic, but it woke us all up. We visited the flagship Barbie store which has just opened and I acted like I was 5 years old getting a bit too excited ...

We survived our first sleeper train experience, luckily it was the shortest of our three in China at only 11 hours!!! The set up is you have six people in each compartment with three bunks stacked up on each side, it certainly makes a very intimate train ride especially with 6 large rucksacks as well. After having a slightly dodgy tummy half an hour before we boarded the train I was slightly apprehensive, but luckily I was ok. We arrived in Xi'an and it was rath...

Hello everyone and welcome to our first blog entry. We have had an amazing first few days, a real mixture of life in China. After our long flight we had our first experience of Chinese driving which is something, if you want to over or undertake, pull out or cut someone up all you have to do is honk your horn and this seems exceptable. After having a shower we headed out for some food and encountered our first issue, a lot of Chinese do not understand English and...