Forgot to mention in our 3 Gorges blog that we discovered the boat that plays the titanic theme tune as your wake up call. This was not so amusing when we were on a boat that looked like it may well sink! We figured with three life jackets each we could jump and make an attemt to swim to the side as did not see many lifeboats!

Arrived in Yangshou after overnight train from Wuhan to Gui Lin then a bus from there to Yangshou. Emma and I are getting better at our research - found out that the bus we needed departed from "the square infront of the train station". Unfortunately we failed to find out what number the bus was or what times it might leave! Fortunetely some Chinese dude was circling the square shouting "Yangshou", "Yangshou" so we made it to our destination via a bus with the Yangshou locals on their way to market - plently fruit, tables, chairs and baskets joined us on the bus but fortunately no animals!

Hanna, the hostel owner, met us and showed us to our room - luxury penthouse, complete with 2 double beds, en-suite bathroom and balcony (ok maybe not that luxurious but it was a far cry from our boat cabin!)

Spent our time in Yangshou hiring bikes and cycling round the beautiful countryside. As neither Emma or I had been on a bike in several years there were a few comedy moments as we tried to negotiate the Chinese traffic and keep to the right hand side of the road! Took our bikes to Moon Hill and climbed to the top. Emma's time at military fitness obviously had some effect as she marched up the thousands of steps while I blamed the heat for my shortness of breath and leg pain!

The next day we thought we'd take a bus to a nearby village and take "the hiking path" down the Li River. This proved harder than you'd imagine and after nearly an hour of trying to find out where the walk started from Emma negotiated us a good deal on a bamboo raft instead! Our driver did not look to be in the peak of fitness or health but we made it down the river in one piece!

A highlight of our visit was the Light Show on the Li River, apparently directed by the same guy who was in charge of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olypics. Very impressive but our photos really do not do it justice.

Our last day in Yangshou involved chilling by the Yulong river and getting an hour long foot massage, which was amazing although did feel slightly sorry for the poor girls having to touch our skanky feet that had been in the same shoes for a month walking around hot, dirty cities!

Our last overnight train from Gui Lin to Shenzhen passed uneventfully and then we passed through the Chinese border and into Hong Kong...