Dali & Lijiang Old Dali is a great place with a stunning mountain backdrop and the nearby spectacular Erhai lake.The hotel we stayed in was also very cool with much more of a relaxed hostel vibe, some cute dogs and great breakfasts.More importantly Dali beer is probably the best brew in China and one of the cheapest, so we had to have a few to make sure we agree.On our first full day we got on some horses and plodded off to the top of the mountain to take in...

We arrived in Leshan and stored our luggage to go and see the Giant Buddha - he is 42 metres tall and they built him where two rivers meet to try and calm the waters - we walked down a lot of steps to get to the bottom for some piccys and then back up again before we boarded a bus to get to Emei Shan. Emei Shan is a mountain that is 3099 metres above sea level at the top, we caught a bus up to almost the top in the afternoon and settled into our dodgy hotel for ...

16 hours on the cleanest overnight train EVER lands us in Chengdu, the home of Pandas and the capital of the Sichuan province known for it's spicy food! Our Tour Leader Tomic was having trouble getting us taxis to our hotel when we got off our train as it was too early for the police to be at the train station so the local taxi drivers were refusing to take us anywhere in favour of better fares - after 25 minutes of no luck Tomic decides that the only way we are...

Well, we only just about survived the overnight train journey - 12 hours this time and it wasn't a nice train! We had the top four bunks in a cabin of six and the two guys on the bottom bunks proceeded to chain smoke through the night and the toilets were a mess - YUK!!! But we're here now so it's all good! But life is all good now we are chilled in Xian, it's the home town of our guide and he loves it so harps on about it a lot. Dumpling dinner (Xian speciality...

5 hours on a private transfer bus (as opposed to 8 hurs by public bus) sees us into Pingyao... Pingyao seems a beautiful little walled city, it's buzzing at the moment as they are getting ready for an international photography fesitval, there's flyers and posters and artwork everywhere - brilliant!! Our hotel is very sweet - in a similar style to our lovely hotel in Beijing - all arranged around a courtyard where you can sit and drink tea. Everything is lit up...