Final thoughts on China.
We really enjoyed it. There's so much to see and so much history.

Food
The food is quite up and down in terms of some dishes that look good taste bad and the opposite. It's difficult to know where to eat and what to get sometimes. We'd recommend sticking with vegetables dishes though. There's plenty of Asian chain restaurants if you want to be safer. And if all else fails there's plenty of western restaurants - Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Subway and Starbucks are on every street corner!
Breakfast is a pain, but the best thing to do is go to the supermarkets or normal Market and buy fruit, and grab a coffee from one of the many chains like Bread. We struggled to find even a plain croissant.

Getting around
Public transport is incredibly cheap and very easy to use with English translation for everything. And taxis are very cheap too.
There's lots of English translation around to help tourists. It can be difficult asking people for help when in Beijing, but got much easier in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The trick is to ask for help from young people as they are all learning English.
We had been put off by an STA Travel rep who said we'd really really struggle getting around china on our own. Load of crap, it's simple. You just need to have a bit of patience and realise that you might have to ask 5 different people before you get the help you need. But getting around a city and getting to another is simple even with sleeper train. Be patient and give yourself a bit more time.

Beijing
So much to see here and some things like the summer palace need a full day. There were other things we didn't get to see even in the four days we were there e.g. A few different parks and the birds nest stadium where the olympics were.
It's a must visit city with lots to do and see, but once we'd done the tourist sites we felt it was enough and wouldn't want to just hang around in the city.

Xi'an
We didn't get enough time here, so would definitely recommend you stay at least two days because one day is out to terracotta warriors. There is a wall around the city that is supposed to be nice to explore and to watch sunset or sunrise.

Hangzhou
Well the weather was poor so we didn't get to see much. The lake looked lovely and it was a real shame it was very misty so couldn't really go around it to see all the views. I'd recommend going there though as it's a more chilled out city.

Shanghai
Our favourite place. I could go back to this city again and again, just to sit and have a few drinks in a bar overlooking the skyline of Pudong. It's a really cool city and there's some good sightseeing. It's not got as many of the historical sites like Beijing though. It's more like the New York of China.
Again, a must visit city, and we'd love to visit again!

Hong Kong
Lots of things to do in Hong Kong and the food is better than anywhere else we went. There's lots and lots of western tourists there so sometimes it can make it easier finding your way maybe by speaking to them. It feels a bit more Chinese in some ways too, with all the narrow streets, hustle and bustle and all the Chinese signs hanging from buildings like you see in the movies.

Something we won't miss though is the constant coughing, spluttering and spitting!

We've loved it, but definitely ready to see a different country, culture and food!