Sat 11 Nov We got three buses into the Longji rice terrace area, then had a 30 minute walk along the terraces to our guest house. After a late lunch we had a walk on the terraces, amazing views of the area. It is miles away from anywhere, the local women wear a traditional type of dress and sell shawls and silver jewellery. There was a snake in a cage in the toilet at the hotel. just in case anyone fancies snake for dinner...... we didn't! There was a mome...

Tues 7 Nov The train eventually got to Guilin at around 7pm but we then had a bus journey to Yangshuo where we were staying at Fawlty Towers Hotel! We went out for a meal and found Yangshuo to be very touristy, everyone speaks english and it is very westernised. Wed 8 Nov We escaped the town and went bamboo rafting on the Li River. We had a very relaxing few hours sat back on the raft although the boat man had to negotiate several dams where we had to ge...

Sat 4 NovArrived in Shanghai late morning, taxi ride to the hotel then an orientation walk of the city. Ying (our tour leader) took us to a local cafe for lunch where we had deep fried dumplings and chicken noodles - yum. We went for a walk on 'The Bund' the waterfront area of Shanghai, had a coffee then a very expensive beer at a German pub. Shanghai by night looks quite space-age as there are lots of skyscrapers and a strange tv tower which have neon br...

Wed 1 Nov Arrived in Xian at 7am and got a bus to the hotel.  After a quick shower we headed out on an orientation walk of the city.  We then had a hearty breakfast before a bicycle ride on the city walls.  They are the only complete city walls in China so we did a full circuit of the city (about 14km) and had lots of races!  It was interesting to see the old side of the walls with old buildings compared to the other side which is full of...

Mon 30 OctWe left Beijing by bus at 7.30am, then travelled for three hours to a remote part of the Great Wall.  There are five sections of the wall that are open to the public, the part that we visited is the least visited.  We were guided by a farmer along a stretch of about 5-6 miles of unrestored wall.  The scenery was spectacular and the wall was ..... great!!  It stretches for as far as you can see.  We saw no other people during the...