Upon arrival in Shanghai, we grabbed our bags, ready to head out to our private transfer. The Chinese had shut down our tube station because of the public holiday so we were unable to get public transport - which is not necessarily a bad thing.The journey took quite a while with all the traffic on the roads and just before we hit a serious looking traffic jam, the drivers decided to make a different turn.Eventually we arrived at the hotel around the 9.30 - 10pm m...

It was a reasonably short journey time of around 2 hours to reach Chengdu.At the train station, we were met by our local rep, who I think Bing (our tour leader) had a little bit of a soft spot for.For dinner, we were venturing out for hot pot. Now this isn't a casserole type dish like you'd expect, but essentially a big dish split in two with bubbling soup like substances - one hot and one of mushroom. You then were given various meats and veggies to put into the...

This time round I had a top bunk - I was hoping that I wouldn't get disturbed by all the early risers. Just about the entire entourage had noodles for dinner and then we just mulled round until lights went out.The train was due in at 11am originally, so with the late start we all figured that we wouldn't get in until 12ish. I was hoping to sleep until around the 10 o'clock mark, but I only managed until about 9ish.As we sat there, pondering the outside views, the...

That afternoon, we had organised to go on motorised bamboo rafts down the river to look at what the Chinese think is the most beautiful part of their country. It was spectacular - the rock formations and the greenery were brilliant. Although I've hardly seen any of China, I can see why they would make comments about this place.Dad and I had bought books from a little old lady in town for 20 Yuan each (two quid) - considering the prices of most tourist books in ot...

I said goodbye to Ange and then toddled off to the train station. Even at peak commuter hour, the trains aren't anywhere to the capacity that the London tubes are, which was quite a nice treat - no need to worry about smacking someone with my backpack as I turn around.After check-in was complete and I'd spent the mandatory time waiting at the gate, we boarded the plane. Expectations were not high considering the previous couple of Qantas flights that I'd experien...