We have finally arrived in Yangshuo, a famous backpackers' haunt in the south of China in Guanxi province. This will be our final stop on our odyssey before heading back to Shanghai and onwards to Aus. Yangshuo is quite westernised in parts, and is actually advertised on Chinese TV as a place where westerners and … Continue reading The China Logs: Guilin to Yangshuo

I was woken by a gentle "Happy Birthday To You" being sung in my ear by Orlando. We were in a lovely little friendly hotel in a town called Luoyang, (well it has a population of more than 6 million but that feels small by Chinese standards), about 6 hours by fast train east of … Continue reading The China Logs: Longmen Caves

Chinese Hygiene Chinese people are beautifully turned out, and very well presented, the vast majority of them. The hotels foyers are lovely. The malls are highly polished. There is precious little litter on the streets, and armies of street cleaners are in evidence everywhere you look. So how come they still hawk and spit wherever … Continue reading The China Logs: Things I Have Noticed About China Part 1

Xi'an was wet and miserable when we got here, but has cheered up since then. Nothing much to report except for the Terracotta Warriors which were predictably a highlight. It is one thing to read about them, and understand how many of them there are (4,000) and how old they are (more than 2,000 years) … Continue reading The China Logs: Xi’an