We started our second China tour in Kunming (in the Yunnan Province in south west China) and from there we visited Lijiang, a lovely old mountain town. We took the bus to Qiatou to begin our two day trek in Tiger Leaping Gorge. The first day particularly was pretty tough going with lots of steep uphill sections and we were desperate for a beer when we got to our guesthouse! The gorge was spectacular and well worth the trek and basic facilities! We were lucky eno...

Terracotta Warrior trip was fascinating - amazing how all these figures were buried underground and not found until 1974! The archaelogists have done a great restoration job. After a 15 hour overnight train, we arrived in Suzhou and explored the pretty canals and gardens there. We have now arrived in Shanghai, which is a huge city with an impressive skyline. We have seen the Shanghai acrobats, been to the markets and eaten more yummy food (although not sure we ...

We survived our trip to the night market!! We had scorpion, starfish, snake and deep fried ice cream as well as other things. Since our last blog update, we have visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing and taken the overnight sleeper train to Xian where we are today. Yesterday, we took a bike tour around the ancient city walls (14 kms) - a great way to burn off our Peking duck lunch! Later we are off to see the Terracotta Army before our next...

Arrived safely in China two days ago after the red-eye to Sydney from Darwin, a few hours at Sydney airport and then a 13 hour flight to China! After a good night's sleep, we checked out the Temple of Heaven and then met our lovely tour group in the evening. Been to the Great Wall today which was fantastic, it was hard to believe we were really there! Beijing is a massive city and pretty crazy. Tonight we are planning to go to the food markets to try some bizar...