Day 3 in Shanghai and we were back on our own again. Masters of our own destiny and no idea what to do with ourselves! First things first, downgrade our accommodation and move to a hostel, do some much needed laundry and then come up with a plan of action. Originally we'd wanted to head south but news of floods and torrential rain meant a swift rethink was needed. Several hours later, a not so swift rethink resulted in a booked flight to Xiamen island on the east coast and the hope of a chilled few days by the sea.

The next day we found Xiamen had also been affected by flooding (with several deaths) and to make things worse storms were forecast for our time there. So, another rethink and this time we decided to stay in Shanghai an extra night and get a train to Hangzhou - just an hr away and ironically the first destination on our original itinerary south - the following day! We couldn't get our money back on the flights so that was 100 odd quid down the swanny, but we softened the blow by getting pissed at our favourite happy hour and going for a slap up Thai :)

We were kinda fed up with Shanghai by this point - I'd been looking forward to seeing it but apart from when it's lit up at night, it's fairly unspectacular. As the weather was now better though, we spent the last day wandering around and chilling out, checking out the food street in the evening and watching Iron Man 3 in the cinema (pretty sure we missed a key plot revelation as the Chinese speaking bit wasn't subtitled!).

Hangzhou was a very welcome change from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. Our hostel was situated in The Old Town, a pedestrianised area full of winding streets, shops, restaurants and coffee shops, and we were a 15 minute stroll from a huge lake. It was seriously hot in Hangzhou so most of the days were spent sitting round the lake, wandering around, getting lost, driving boats or chilling in the welcome air conditioning of the hostel. It seems Hangzhou is something of a tourist destination for the Chinese so we experienced a lot more staring here than other places. One morning, as I was picking through a plate of barely fried eggs, a local man stopped, pressed his face against the glass and peered at me through the window. For two minutes, no matter how much I stared back, his eyes never left me. 'Never seen a white man eating eggs before'...maybe he put that in his blog!

The evenings, inevitably, were all about food and sampling the local cuisine. One night we passed a restaurant where each table had a burning stove in the centre, people huddled around it cooking some kind of hotpot. Not a word of the menu was in English but we were intrigued enough to go in and sit down. Thankfully the panicked waitress that drew the short straw of serving us was very helpful and using a combination of translation apps and pointing at other peoples food we managed to understand enough to order! The menu was divided into sections, with checkboxes after each item and the idea, it seems, was to choose a bunch of ingredients from each section - bones (to flavour the broth), vegetables, meat, noodles, sauces, spices - and cook up a storm at the table. There was more than a touch of food roulette about it as we weren't entirely sure what we'd ordered and when the pot of steaming bone soup arrived we thought we'd been had! But minutes later the plates of raw veg, meat and noodles arrived and we started to cook. As it turned out, it was the best and tastiest meal we'd had in a long time!

By now we'd decided to return to our original route completely. It would have to be slightly abbreviated as we'd wasted time avoiding the torrential rain down south but with the help of the hostel staff we booked a flight to Guilin for the day after next. On the final day in Hangzhou we finally found some of the weird(ish) food id been looking for, on a local food street. I could have had ducks head or octopus tentacles but instead I opted for a crab skewer - 3 crabs on a stick, deep fried and whole!

The flight to guilin the next day was a disaster from start to finish. We boarded the plane ok but after sitting there for an hour were told to get off due to mechanical failure. There were only 3 other non-locals on the plane so naturally information was sparse. Many of the Chinese passengers spent the next hour shouting at the desk staff and eventually we discovered spare parts had to be located and departure was to be delayed a further 2hrs. Food arrived (I managed to avoid most of the usual queueing chaos as I'd spotted it early!) and once that was polished off we were herded onto a bus to a hotel for "a rest"! Info was still sparse so we assumed we'd be delayed until the following day. Just before the bus left, one of the other Brits, a large, middle aged sun-worshipper, clearly at the end of his tether, barrelled down the aisle knocking several locals out the way, demanding to know what was going on! He didn't find anything out as no one spoke english, but it was funny to watch the bewildered Chinese faces nonetheless. After a couple of pointless hours in our hotel room we were called to reception to get a bus back to the airport (supposedly the plane was now fixed) but had to wait an hr for the bus to arrive! Finally back at the airport, we boarded (again), were given 200yuan (about £20) each compensation, sat on the runway for another 40mins before finally taking off 8 hours late!! Needless to say when we got to our hostel we did very little except have a few much needed drinks.

The rain finally caught up with us on what was to be our only day in Guilin but in-between downpours we managed to check out a few local sites - Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Caves - to make the stop worthwhile.

The main attraction down south though was Yangshuo - a small town about 90 minutes away, set amongst spectacular peaks and winding rivers. By now, the rain had made way for scorching sunshine and the kind of humidity that knocks you over and soaks you through as soon as you step outside. The town reminded me a bit of Vang Vieng in Laos - more developed but the same sort of vibe and definitely geared towards tourists. During lunch a local woman approached us trying to sell us a guided bike tour through the countryside and local villages. Naturally very sceptical and after much umming and arring, we decided to take a punt - we wanted to see more of rural china before we left and "Crazy Wendy" as she called herself seemed genuine enough!

An hour later, after a quick look through town and a fish foot massage (where lots of little fish nibble dead skin off of your feet) we met Crazy Wendy and walked to the scooter hire shop. One crash course later and we were cruising along the main road before diving into the mountain countryside. I'd never driven a motorscooter before so it took a few minutes to get used to...once I decided to pretty much leave the brakes alone it got a lot easier. I never did quite master the corners and there were more than a few wobbly moments but I managed not to fall off. Kate on the other hand liked the look of one particular ditch so much she decided to go in for a closer look...head first! Luckily she was fine and came away with nothing more than a few colourful bruises.

The ride itself was awesome and well worth the gamble. Stopping often to take photos of the views, peaks and villagers at work in the rice paddies, we even got into arguments when several local farmers objected to us taking photos of their precious water buffalo - we almost ran one woman over trying to get away!! It was all good fun though and Crazy Wendy was a great guide who spoke very good english, had lots of local knowledge and always wore a smile. All things considered it was probably one of the best things we did in China.

After a quick shower we wandered around town and spent the rest of evening drinking beers and people watching. In hindsight, the sizchuan chicken dish I had for dinner (it had about 20 chopped up chillies in it!) probably wasn't the best idea with the next days long bus trip ahead, but you live and learn!

A 7 hour bus ride to Guangzhou meant most of the last day in China was wasted and fittingly the hostel felt like nothing more than a pit-stop on our way out of the country. From the brief time we spent there, all I can really remember about Guangzhou is wandering around in the insane evening humidity looking for somewhere to eat and stumbling across a tramp knocking one out under a bridge in full view of passers-by! Not the best advert for the place and probably not entirely fair but there you have it.

Next day off to Taiwan...bye bye China!