Ni hao folks. Its been a while but once again I had a vision. Mike has started his China reflections so I shan't tread on his furry toes. I just have a few bullet point observations and travel trips aimed at no-one in particular.

-- Driving.
Driving in China is fine as long as you follow these simple user rules.
Rule 1. i) The vehicle in front is your enemy, its driver hates you and your entire family. You must overtake him at all costs. ii) If you can overtake him at a blind bend or on the brow of a hill whilst smoking, shouting on your phone and spitting out the window it proves you have the biggest plums on the road.
Rule 2. At no point pay any attention to what is behind you.
Rule 3. You reserve the right to stop, turn, swerve and create your own lane at any moment.
Rule 4. If the road surface starts to deteriorate just drive faster. Rule 4 safety note: Please ensure that all male passenger have there testicles securely fastened otherwise future generations maybe in danger
Rule 5. Use the horn code. i) If another driver angers you aggressively toot your horn. ii) When overtaking a pedestrian or vehicle aggressively toot your horn. iii) If another road user does you a good turn aggressively toot your horn. iv) To remove animals from the road, signal to a friend, warn other drivers of impending danger or let the driver, in the traffic jam, 7 cars in front aware your displeasure aggressively toot your horn. Correct use of the horn code will cut down on road confusion.
Rule 6. If driving in any other asian country same rules apply.

-- Chengdu.
Chengdu is a great city. Its clean and civilized. The only big city where we saw true blue skies. Has a foriegn bookstore with all the classics for cheap. The public transport is very good and it has Pandas.

-- Bus station toilets.
Bus station toilets are a great opportunity to beat your personal best time in how long you can hold your breath for. Its also a perfect chance for chinese males to check 'what they are up against' an opportunity they heartily grab with both hands. (excuse the phrase)

-- 2 Unlimited.
You hear a lot of 2 Unlimited in Beijing

-- Smog.
It is rare to see blue skies in a big Chinese city. Tiananmen square at night is bizarre, you can only see 30 metres in all directions.

-- Food.
Food in China is great. We have had lovely dishes whereever we've been. Whether it be in the street or from a restaurant/hostel and a comfort western dish is never that far away when required. There are some exceptions of course. Mountain yak tastes like feet however you dress it up. The 'Yak spine and intestine in s*** soup' myself and Adam had before a hike in Kangding was particularly appetizing. Also, when ordering a bubbling hot pot it is nice to have half and half, spicy non spicy stock for the differing palette's. Request no 'whole fish' in the non spicy side. It doesn't add much, bar scales, to the flavour and is slightly off putting when the white eye followed by a decomposing body breaks the surface halfway through the meal when you were previously unaware of its presence.

-- Sleeper buses.
We found sleeper buses to be an excellent mode of transport. Others don't and are quite surprised with our views especially being both big guys. But 18 hours laying down is certainly preferable to sitting even in a tiny bed.

-- High pitched men
Men sing high pitched

-- Conclusion.
I'm still trying to work out how I feel about China and will do for a while. Its good and bad, Yin and Yang. I'm certainly pleased to have been and it is a fascinating place. A massive fascinating place and there is a hell of a lot that we haven't seen. The best decision we made was to scrap our tickets from Xian to Shanghi and head for Chengdu to explore the Sichuan province. If we hadn't I think we would have left China disappointed. It is very easy in the big cities to feel claustrophobic. There's no space anywhere. The noise, the filth, the cars their horns, the smog. In Sichuan we found space and mountains and greenery and stars.

I can't help but feel slightly erm... cheated by all the new old towns. The 15th century temple being built on the hill, the ancient 'passed down through generations' family souvenir shop where the paint is still wet and the windows are being fitted. Its picky I know and maybe unfair. I understand its better that they are building old towns than british 60s tower blocks say, But still.

We have had a great time though. Meeting some lovely people along the way. It may not be that long before we are back. We've been informed Shanghi is a good destination for merchant vessels across to the US. However after 50 days it is time to move on.

Hello South East Asia.