We arrived in Xian at midnight and awoke to see the sky for the first time since arriving in China. It is amazing how much a blue sky and sunshine can lift one's spirits. After Chongqing, Xian was a much smaller city of only 9.5 million people. It had a whole different feel about it to other places we have visited in China. It is flat and modern, with high rise buildings going up everywhere. The clear sky probably made the world of difference too. It was quite ...

I think where I left off on my last post I said, "So far, so good." After that we had a few hiccups. We were to catch the super fast train from Beijing to Yichang to board our boat for a four day cruise through the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River. Our Beijing minder gave us our train tickets the day before departure. Problem number 1 - my passport number did not match the number stated on my train ticket. The numbers were correct, but the initial letters were...

In the winter of 2011 Beijing gave me smog-free sunshine, clear blue skies and temperatures so cold that they chilled me to the bone and almost froze the marrow within. This time I came prepared with layer upon layer of Marino wool and possum fur, so my bones were warm and snug, but Beijing forgot to turn on the sun. Although the smog rating was relatively low due to a cold front clearing it somewhat, the skies remained grey and some rain and snow fell. Not to w...

A change in train timetable meant we left Mongolia late at night on the 22nd Dec. Not only are the weather gods looking after us, but also the train gods. We got the only Russian carriage on the train, while other passengers had to put up with lesser quality Mongolian carriages. We settled in for a good night's sleep and awakened at 7am to face the first stage of our border crossing. At 5 in the afternoon we finally were underway again. To quote Lonely Planet, i...

The first breath of air into our lungs as we alighted from the train in Ulaan Baatar informed us of just how cold the temperature was. We knew the day's forecast was for a high of minus 19 Celsius and a low of minus 33, so we had prepared by rugging up under several layers, but you still have to breathe. That first inhalation left us speechless and gasping. But the sky was blue and there was no wind, so we wrapped our heads in our scarves and counted our blessing...