10/11/2009Day 36 -Gaungzhou to Hong KongOur last overnight train was 24hrs! But after the other overnight trains which were about 18hrs long, surprisingly enough it didn't seem like that much longer. We amused ourselves with DS, a movie and sleep. We arrived in Guangzhou at about midday, where we were picked up by our last Chinese tour guide Phillip and taken to another train station for our 2hr ride to Hong Kong. We arrived in H.K at 5pm and caught a taxi to ou...

9/11/2009Day 35 - Kunming to Ghaungzhou last overnight train!!This morning Dad had us up at 6.30am as he wanted to go back to Dong Feng Square to see the locals dance and do tai-chi. The square was full of elderly people dancing individually in groups or in partners. There were many people doing thai0chi some to music and some to the own rhythm. We wandered around the square and settled on a bench near some people chanting in a group, it took Mum and us a little ...

8/11/2009Day 34 - Kunming: CityToday we had a late start, at 11am we left the hotel on foot and walked the streets of Kunming with our Mandarin map!! We found the Dong Feng Square where people go in the mornings to dance and do exercises in particular tai-chi and badminton, but the square was empty because it was midday. We then walked in search for the Bird and Flower Market on the way we were given a brochure for a restaurant that had a really nice picture of l...

7/11/2009Day 33 - Kunming: Stone ForestWe arrived in Kunming at 8am, our tour guide Johnson took us to our hotel for breakfast. After breakfast we took an hour's drive to the Stone Forest. Apparently this Stone Forest was once a coral reef under the sea thousands of centuries ago. The tall walls of stone have since been shaped by the elements (wind and rain). They are quite impressive and form a labyrinth for tourists to wander. We were lucky that Johnson let us ...

6/11/2009Day 32 - Chengdu to Kunming Overnight TrainToday we got up and had breakfast, packed up our things and boarded another overnight train, this time to Kunming.