22/03 we got on a 23 hour overnight train to Yangshou. We arrived at about 3pm in Guilin and caught a 2 hour bus (about 15 mph) to Yangshou. Pleasantly surprised to be staying in a hotel called Fawlty Towers! was hoping to see a spanish waiter, but unfortuately there was a drunk old guy instead. Driving in to Yangshou was just beautiful. All around are lime stone peaks and lakes which make you feel instantly relaxed. Surprisingly this area was quite touristy but...

We arrived in Shanghai on Thursday at lunch time on another sleeper train - getting quite used to them now. We spent the first few hours wandering around then Bund which is very comercialised.The skyline view in Shanghai is amazing, there are skyscrapers are far as you can see in every direction. We went up the rather strange looking tv toiwer in the middle of the city. Aparently its the biggest is asia - aren't they lucky!Apart from a really good view at the top...

And so we caught the overnight train to Xi'an. Surprisingly comfortable (more so than the wooden slab of a bed in the hostel at the great wall) and a good way to save money on a night in a hostel. The only downside was 'Snoring norman' as we named him below me (Gem)! We arrived in Xi'an at 6.40am and made our way to the hostel....which turned out to be a really nice hotel! We then spent the day exploring the local area. We visited the Great Mosque in the muslim ...

Firstly let me apologise for any typos - we are in a really grungy internet cafe and I can't see the keyboard. People around us look like they have been here for days! We left for the Great Wall on Friday on our mini bus and after 3 hrs we arrived in a small village kist off the Simatai section of the wall. We then began our grewelling 4 hr trek along the wall. Parts of the wall have been restored and is like a smooth paved path but the majority is large lose ...

On Wednesday we packed up and moved to a new hostel where we were to meet the group for our tour! We found a few of them in the bar and later met the group leader. We are all about the same age and all get on really well which is good. Yesterday we all went to Tian'men square. It was the first day of good sunshine, no smog for once. We were hoping to see a demonstration but the army are everywhere keeping people under control. Was disappointed not to see any t...