Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Another short flight (thank goodness) and I'm drinking yunnan coffee,smoking a cigarette, looking out of the first floor window of the Prague cafe in the old town of Lijiang, the sun is shining and the tree lined streets are busy with people and the sound of a nearby singer.....well I was when we ( Catherine has not started smoking yet) started this...but we have had so little free time. The last two weeks have been quite physic...

Xi'an to Emeishan.... We arrived in Xi'an early in the morning to rain and a high level of 'smog' almost at danger levels where you need a mask!!! Hard to believe London was like this 100 years ago, so not great but no problem as after quick shower we were off to see the Terracotta Warriors. This really was an eye opener, the whole site is permanently covered and it's amazing to realise there is so much more history still to unearth. I imagine that at night it w...

Hello again, sorry it's been so long ...such a busy 3 or 4 weeks but we've seen so much and really enjoyed the experience. Decided we need to split the blog/pictures up - so be prepared for a few updates over the next couple of days - just like buses!! So ....Qingdao to Beijing: Qingdao, (still on our independent tour), was nice, not exactly at the beach as anticipated but in the Olympic marina with the beaches about 20 minutes walk away. Great promenade at n...

China-First Impressions. The second flight of the trip, to China, was short and painless even for me and to our relief we were met by a driver and our first surprise, the drive into Shanghai. For fifty minutes we cruised by towering estates (each section, housing thousands, built of exactly the same buildings), always seeing higher buildings in the distance....we had no idea how large Shanghai had become...no small trading port but city of 23 million people. And...

Sayonara Japan. Our few days in Hagi which was a luxury retreat were fantastic, and I pretended they were Catherine's birthday present....no I haven't got any better! Hiroshima was more sombre as we soaked up the history and aftermath of the A-bomb. The monuments and museum were very well presented and they are very open about the causes and their responsibility in the war...a big difference from Russia. The castle was great and Catherine as you will see, enjoye...