Our China epic continues. We have now tried all 4 classes of train travel and can give our very conditional approval to most. The "hard sleeper" was our first experience and involved 48 triple bunks in the carriage and was not as noisy as we expected, the Chinese not being known for their volume control. We were in the middle bunks and despite a lack of head room actually managed to get a reasonable sleep in, plus converse in smiles and mime to the chinese couple...

We spent 7 days in Beijing, seeing all the major sights like proper tourists and getting really hassled like proper tourists. At times it was not fun to be accosted and pulled by hawkers trying to flog dodgy gear. But the sights were really good. The Forbidden City was amazing, but in a massive state of renovation so we only saw half of it. The rest is hidden under canvas. Chinese renovation techniques seem to be a bit slapdash and you are left with the feel...

Hong Kong is mad. Officially. It is near impossible to walk down the streets due to the sheer number of people and the noise is constant day and night. That said, it is a vibrant city with lots to do and we've done a lot. We came here mainly to sort our visas for China and Vietnam, both of which we require for longer than you can arrange from outside China. However we have managed to go up the world's steepest tram way - and my god was it steep! We were literally...