Hi, So we're in Tai'an at the moment. I still havent had the chance to put pics up so am using one of mount fugi, just to give you an idea of what we climbed yesterday! Although Mount Taishan is greener. Yeh so that was quite a hike!!! I climbed half way, like most people. That took about an hr and a half. And was just steps, steps and more steps!!! Getting steeper each time and hotter! It was like 25oC yesterday, so was dripping with sweat by the time we reached half way. Nice! So yeh most of us got cable cars the rest of the way, while the guys and Kirsty hiked the rest of the way. Looked tortourous! The mountain is seen like a God in its on right, never mind all the temples at the top and on the way up. So hiking up it is seen as like a pilgrimage by Chinese. It was certainly very beautiful. We didnt really get to appreciate it while walking up as is very covered over (and was loosing the will to live!) but at the mid point where we stopped was amazing. Really cool to see how far we'd come. Once we arrived at the top we cheered the others on who were just finishing. There was quite a lot of Temples around, and the twins(Sussanah and Vivian) and I, noticed that there was padlocks on a lo of the railings by statues. (Very much like what you saw in Florence, dad) Our guide, Nancy told us that it was tradition to either have your name and you partners name inscribed on it then lock the padlock somewhere special on the mountain. You then throw the key over the edge, so itll never go back to the lock and unlock it. This is all supposed to bring good futures to your children and happiness and success in your life. We couldnt see and place to get names inscribed but locked our padlocks up anyhow and threw the keys. I have pics so when I can Ill put them up. After our very active morning we came back to the hotel to get a shower and sort our bags for our homestay with a family at a village nearby. I shared with Chris and we stayed with a very sweet family. There was four of them-parents then two daughters, 15 and 22 I think. We managed to discover that the father was a farmer and so was the older daughter, while the younger one was still studying. Our dinner was gorgeous. They knew I was vegetarian so I could eat most of the dishes. There was quite a range of things, from strawberries and sugar to fried aubergine with cheese. Yum yum yum! We also had shot glasses which weer continuosly filled with beer, and every so often the father would indicate cheers, but this actually means to down it in one. After hardly drinking for months I became tipsy very quickly. Our meal was then followed by a group meet up in the village hall to celebrate James' birthday. So more beer! and some cake :) This morning we met the mayor and via Nancy, who translated, we found out more about the village. We then went on a tour to see the kindergarden, old peoples home and the hospital. The old ppls home was definately the most interesting, as we got to see their rooms and the kitchens and games room. There was about 60 people living there, they either come there because they have no children to support them and so are given the care and housing for free by the government, or their family cant look after them properly as they might have very young childen and have to work in the fields a lot. In this case they have to pay to stay there. We also had breakfast and lunch with our family. In the morning I saw the dishes from last night going back into the dininng room, and thinking oh god! we're just gonna eat exactly the same things as we had yesterday! Luckily only a few of the foods came back again, we also had an egg and tomato soup which was very tasty, a kind of salty, fried pastry stick and then a wrap thing which we put beansprouts in and stuff. I have pictures! Lunch was more of the same so Im glad we're back in the city! We're in Tai'an until 7pm, when we get the 'overnight' train to Nanjing-we have to get of at like 2am! Horrid! Not gonna be a fun trip! At least we have most of the day free tomorrow to recover. Oh, I havent said about the evening in Xi'an yet! We went to the Muslim quarter and had a gorgeous dinner of various vegetbles, outside amongst the market. Was such a great atmosphere! The market wa brilliant. And both Chris and I got on a roll and bought quite a few things! So much so that we both had to go to the post office the following morning to send it all back to the UK, there was no way it was all gonna fit in my bag! So yeh dad, expect a rather large box arrive in a few months from Xi'an! Apparently overland (which was a lot cheaper) takes about 2 months so fingers crossed! Better go. Speak soon, G xxx