Good evening! It's 8:21pm and we are currently sat amongst thousands of Chinese people waiting for the Xi'an Fountain, light and sound show to start! The sun is setting and the Big Goose Pagoda looks majestic in the distance. Today we decided to go it alone and visit the eighth wonder of the world without a tour. After a leisurely start we headed to the bus station via McDonalds for breakfast! Finding any kind of food other than Western fast food is proving t...

Hello from Xi'an! We've made it to our next stop in China after nearly 6 hours on a train although it wasn't as bad as it sounds! After an early start and a breakfast pack in our hands, we got a taxi to the train station in Beijing and made it to our waiting room smoothly without any hitches. We were advised to get there early, hence the early start but really didn't need to be as we'd already booked the tickets and there were no queues. It was quite a nice mor...

Hello! Hello, from on The Great Wall of China!! It's 1:31pm and we are just about to exit the wall and head down for lunch! Our legs are like jelly but it's been incredible! Write more later :) Good evening... it's now 8:04pm and Tara and I are sat in our very own little Courtyard on a garden swing, there is no place I'd rather be :) What a day we have had! At 6:30am my alarm for school went off as I had forgotten to turn it off, I quickly turned it off and n...

Hello from Beijing! So 3 hours later than we expected and a very bumpy flight (!) we arrived in Beijing, to be met by a lovely driver holding a 'Tom Hampson' sign! It was such a relief to find him and quite funny when we realised he didn't speak a word of English! But he got us to our first hotel safely and in the pouring rain! We were met on a street corner as the streets or 'hutongs' as they call them here are so small the cars can't even fit through! A guy fro...

Hello! Welcome to the blog of Tom & Tara's Tour of China and Japan 2017! After another year teaching in Dubai and a very hectic last few weeks moving apartment, leaving school, 40 degrees + heat and Ramadan, we have finally made it! School is out and we are on our way! As I write we have just boarded the plane in Hong Kong and are just 3 hours away from our first destination, Beijing! As if we are going to China, with each other... what difference a year ...