And so, he blogs for the last time in China, this time from Skyscraper City, Shanghai!

Its been a while since Beijing now, seen lots more of China and the GAP Tour has introduced me to new friends and given me lots of wonderful experiences, and here's most of them!

In the days before joining the tour I spent my last few days in Beijing going to the Olympic Stadium and park, what an incredible atmosphere! You could still feel the spirit of the Olympics in the entire area, but especially inside the Birds Nest. The inner athlete in me was screaming to come out! I stayed from 2pm till 6 untill the lights came on, fantastic sight! China really did a good job and especially the water Cube looked good at night. Saving the best of beijing for last was basically what i did since I still hadnt gone to the Forbidden City before joining the tour. Played my last ping-pong match, said goodbye to the lovely staff at my beijing hostel and on the 16th of Oct i made my way to ChongwenMen St. to meet my new group. The leader of the China Express was a local of the second stop on the tour Xi'an and we were told to call her by her english name Fisher, because her father was poor and used to love fish so he named her Fish in chinese hehe.

China Express, Day 1: The Great Wall of China! Now this one Ive been looking forward to ALOT and my expectations were met and surpassed by more than I could have imagined. It was absolutely breathtaking. We had 3 hours to climb somewhere between gate 6 and 20 of the MuTianYu part of the wall. I am very proud to say I took the most challenging course which ment I was constantly walking the entire time and one part of the climb included a 100m part that forced us to use our hands because it was so steep! More of a mental challenge than physical at that point and my legs were Killing me! Getting to gate 20 however juuust was'nt enough for me, so me and one brave austrailian and one loco swede went beyond the "danger" sign and kept climbing for another 2-3 gates. Making it to the very top of that part of the Great Wall gave me a sence of acomplishment I dare say wont be equalled for a long long time. Highlight of my entire journey so far. BLOODY AMAZING! As if the climb wasnt good enough on its own, we got to go on a tobogan going down! just what the doctor orderd:) Also very random people selling Snickers all the way up on the wall and believe it or not there was a Subway restaurant at the bottom. I had one. r-r-r-random. Slept very well on the bus ride back to the hotel:)

Day 2: Ti'anman Square & The Forbidden City. Slight rain today, still a fun day of walking around Ti'anman square where the memorial hall for Chairman Mao is also located. Asked the tour leader about what happend in '89, if we were standing on the same ground as where the tanks rolled over the students, didnt get a staright answer so Im taking that as a dui. (yes). Finally! I got to go inside the Forbidden City after living nextdoor to it for 2 weeks! Massive on the inside and just very impressive with its yellow rooftops to symbolize royalty and red walls. Since we were so close to my hutong I actually took half the group on a little tour around the area myself without Fisher, got some free tea at my old hostel and went for more pork buns:) In the evening we bid Beijing farewell and boarded the cramped overnight train to Xi'an a whopping 13 hours away. Brought beers and played cards so twas quite amusing.

Day 3: Xi'an & The Terra-Cotta Warriors. Arrived early, first impressions are that its noisy, dusty, busy, but impressive. Very cool city walls surrounding a place which at one time was the biggest city in the world! Took the bus out to the site of the Terra-Cotta warriors and met the One remaining "finder" of the warriors. Seing these ancient statues was one of the highlights from China, so much history and the story of why they are there is just made for TV. Had a Dumpling banquet in the evening with the group and visited the Muslim street which was very unique indeed!

Day 4 & 5: Hangzhou & The Water City. Early early flight to Hangzough, last time Im EVER flying domestic in china, just too.many.people.. off. Not the most interesting of places, saw a lake (much nicer in summer they say) saw a water show on the lake (better at night they say) and went for pizza hut for dinner. Day 5 was the water city, not exactly venice but still cool actually. Same old song and dance of people selling stuff at every corner, but this place is deep in china so being white basically makes you a celebrity hehe, took loooots of photos, didnt hate it:p

Day 6: Shanghai! Ohh Where to begin, Ive been here almost a week now and in that time Ive visited the World Expo on my birthday, gone to The Bund at night which is the biggest attraction in Shanghai and gives you a fantastic veiwing point of some of the most impressive buildings & skyscrapers anywhere in the world, Been to the National History Museum, The Peoples Square, got drunk on cheap chinese liquer, and payed 100 Yuan to sample exotic tea's. Its been a blast. Im learning 100 new things every single day and will surely miss this pulsing metropolitan city, might even go as far as saying its better than Beijing! I will say one thing and that is Shanghai is the first place in China ive been to that has fresh air, so after my one month here that was very much welcomed.

Tomorrow im Seoul bound, hopefully pictures from this incredible month will finally reach the internet via blog or facebook. Take care everyone!

Mattis