I'm beginning to think that the ease or otherwise of obtaining a visa is somewhat proportional to the level of chaos and disorder you find when you get there. As you'll know if you've read the Hong Kong blog the China visa process resulted in a serious rethink of the itinerary. The overland crossing to Shenzen was researched to within an inch of its life and we felt confident that the crossing would be pretty straightforward. Indeed the port was also on the subway line linking with Shenzen North railway station, our destination for our onward link., or so we thought. Shenzen has an East railway station and a North one, both of which had been located on the map. On arrival at the border, we passed through without a hitch and headed for the subway. Nine stops and a couple of escalators later we were in the station concourse. "Tickets," the sign said so I left John with the bags and headed off. Armed with a list of the trains we needed, and the iPad open on the translator app page I hurriedly tapped in some of the words I might need. As I approached the window I showed the girl the iPad screen. "Two 2nd class tickets to Guanzhou" she immediately shook her head and indicated I needed to go to the A1 ticket area at the other end of the concourse. I went there, and when I reached the front of the queue and showed the girl the screen I was met with a laugh as she shouted something to her workmate in Cantonese. The girl behind me explained in English that this was the queue of collecting internet tickets, and I should try any of the other counters. Third time lucky, I decided to extend my request to include the connecting train to Kunming. By the time I reached the front, all the Kunming sleeper tickets had gone but I did manage to secure two bunks for the following night. Feeling quite chuffed that I had two tickets in my hand the next task was to get to Guangzhou so we could connect with the Kunming train the following day. This turned out to be no easy task. We were passed from pillar to post until eventually three hours after arriving at the station we were told the Guanzhou trains Ieave from a different station - pretty much just over the border, more or less where we'd started from in China, and tickets had to be bought there. Backpacks on again, and fans at the ready to allay the stifling humidity we headed off. Eventually, an hour later we found ourselves sitting in a first-class seat on the 4.30 train to Guanzhou. Fatigued but relieved that we had survived the encounter.

On arrival in Guangzhou the first job was to find a hotel, and without the internet this would have to be trial and error, something we don't usually do with foreign hotels in new places. Fortunately, there was a kiosk outside the station offering help with a variety of tourist issues, and we were able to tap them for information. We weren't planning to do much except relax in Guangzhou so we made the most of the hotel room and stayed there till checkout, catching up on Internet jobs. The hotel was happy for us to leave our bags there which enabled us to go exploring the next morning before taking the Kunming train. The first stop had to be the ATM. Having paid for the hotel and four rail tickets the money I'd drawn out on arrival was dwindling fast.

As we've found on the trip all ATMs are not equal, and arriving in a new country can suddenly produce a new game to locate the ATM which (1) accepts international cards (2) does not take an exorbitant commission, and then the third aspect is then to figure out the magic number which you are allowed to withdraw. Guesses too high result in your card being unceremoniously spat out with a message on screen to the effect of " How much? You've got to be kidding. Anyone would think it was your money". Once you've figured out which banks are onside then it's just a job of locating their machines. Today we have found that a limit of 1500 Chinese Yuan works in Bank of China machines, with our Caxton pre-pay MasterCard, although you can only get 1000 with China Construction bank! At the current exchange rate that's either £170 or £115 pounds Having successfully located funds, we were free to wander. The local area was full of textile warehouses - obviously the garment wholesale capital of the world!

Having backpacks bulging with clothes already the last thing we needed was clothes so we headed off on the metro. We jumped off at a stop called Zoo. Strangely enough, this turned out to be the stop for the Guangzhou zoo. Although we both like animals neither of us are great fans of zoos, but this was a good chance to see how these things are done in China and hopefully see a Giant panda for the first time. We headed into the melee of families enjoying the day at the zoo, and after wandering around a few bird enclosures headed for the pandas. We were disappointed to find they were behind glass, rather than outside in their enclosure, although we did get a couple of photos. Within a few minutes of leaving the Pandas, and within about 50 minutes of entering the zoo the sky went dark, and the heavens opened. People ran for shelter, and we suddenly found ourselves under the awning of an outdoor cafe with over a hundred Chinese people. The rain was torrential, as the thunder ripped through the sky and the lightning flashed. It didn't take long before there was water pouring down the steps behind the cafe and flooding beneath the feet of the assembled crowd. John and I stood still trying to prevent the water from leaking into our shoes. All to no avail as the downpour continued. Eventually, we decided things were not improving, so donned rain macs and umbrellas and headed for the exit. To say we could have done with an ark was an understatement as we found we had to wade through water which was way over our shoes. Indeed in some cases, the water was soaking a couple of inches over our trousers. Oh, Joy! Just what you need on the day you're going to be spending the night on the sleeper train in the clothes you're currently wearing! If I don't have trench foot by the end of this trip it'll be a miracle!

With five hours to go until the departure of our train, we decided the best tactic would be to head for something to eat and then go back to the hotel to collect the luggage and dry out a bit. Good old Mc Donald's, somewhere we rarely go to at home, often comes to the rescue abroad with free internet and great coffee and cake in the McCafe, to keep John on an even keel. It's always interesting to see the menu variations. My only regret is not trying the 45p matcha (powdered green tea) ice cream before we left Japan - maybe they will have it in China. With a change of clothes, but very soggy shoes, we headed back to the train station for the next instalment of the "Idiot abroad lookalike and his sidekick make an assault on China" . Next stop Kunming.