Hallo..ha ha...hallo...ha hahaha!!

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Prepare yourselves guys,this is a monster of a blog...get a cuppa,go to loo,or read in sections, it's a mother........

So the train to Shanghai-these over-nighters have fast become the way to travel. I'd never seen these little beauts before, a little cabin of 6 beds and yes, we were up in the very top ones...not even room to sit up. We have since become very good at hoiking up our backpacks into the holdal above our heads, getting swifter and defter with each journey. Move over Arnie, my muscles simply rip.
Having woken up in my coffin-like coccoon to the sound of spitting and general hokking up, we arrived in Shanghai. This was to be a frequent sound and national habit, one I have never got used to, just blanked out. It's the aggressive sound of the churning up the mixture of spit and snot to then project it with the utmost aim and distance through any window, in any bag, on the floor or in a bin, anywhere, anytime, anyhow....bah!
That rant over with, we made it no problem back into China!!Yay! (Could've been an intesresting 6 weeks in no-man's land).
As lots has happened, I'll cut long stories short (ish)....Shanghai had a beautiful nightscape along the riverside known as The Bund. On one side are very modern/fluro lit buildings, resembling the likes of Hong Kong, whereas the other has very Grand European stately buildings, with softer lights. We stayed just down an alley from here, having traipsed through Shanghai for 6 hours to find all our recommened ones were no longer there. Our place was great until the second night when we returned to a furious little lady who seemed to have swallowed the nice one we'd left that morning (Jeckall and Hyde) literally throwing us out of the hotel. Couldn't quite comprehend why, but wasn't really in a position to argue, I think she'd double booked. We got our money back for that night and luckily found another place just nearby. She was so impatient though and angry, yet it was her fault. As soon as we left the building she was all smiles and apologetic. I've never had to use the "Emma Glare Ice Freeze Stare" before, but it came out uncontrolably.
So far Shanghai was not living up to my imagination and title I'd made..."Shanghai...full of Eastern promise....", but it came up trumps once I discovered the little old back streets and interesting stalls. We were approached by the infamous street scammers inviting us to a Chinese Tea Festival, that lure tourists apparently into thinking it's all free, but get stung by a hefty bill at the end, which the little blighters make commission on....good research Sarah, we knew the score!
Shanghai, was our place for booking our flight to Nepal, having not been able to do it previously...and Yay! all accomplished, to leave from OH no...Shanghai??!! Luckily saw this little error before we left the office and got it changed to Beijing! Phew!
Finally tried one of the long-awaiting dumplings that we've seen through Asia, but are apparently very Chinese. It's a white lump of substance, not particularly appetizing, hence never trying one before and it becoming quite a trauma to do so. But with little option, we braved it. Having assured myself a veggie one of egg ( no idea what that really means, but no meat) It was hot and quite bread like in texture, although looks like it could be meringe. My egg turned out to be like a custard and I was pleasantly surprised, I'd have one again.....Sarah had indescribable meat, but it wasn't offensive and she held it down which was the main thing!!!

After being sent to various ticket counters, we finally made it on a train to Suzhou-home of the Chinese Garden. I foolishly tried a bread-like roll with what I thought was chocolate running through it. I chose one with lots of this coloured substance on it, but found out it was the god awful bean paste that this nation loves.....bah, puts my teeth on edge just thinking about it. Bean paste- really?? And I'd avoided it for so long!!
Sorry, side-tracking...the train was more like a plane and whizzed us at 202km/p/hr to Suzhou in less than half an hour. This was a rare occassion where we actually managed to find a recomendation that still existed! The back of a posh hotel that had student accommodation at student prices!Brill!
The city,although sprawling as all Chinese cities are and places seem to be, had a rare area of old charm. I left Sarah napping for a walk around the quiet streets along the river, with uneven roofed cottages and people cycling along the cobbled alleyways. It was lovely.. Fantastically through coincidence and perfect timing, Sarah's family friend just so happened to be in Suzhou that very evening. We'd originally planned to see him back in Shanghai. So we had the pleasure of going out in the evening!! A real rare treat for us scumbags! It was really nice, although was all a bit of a farce as we'd gotten ready for bed already and got the message pretty late and long after he'd sent it. But with a rush and an affirmation he was still in the area, we met up outside the posh side of our abode!!! Yeah, like we can afford it?! And managed to find Aussie and Irish drinking holes just along our road. Fancy?!
We visited The Master of Nets Garden - not at all what I expected. It was more a collection of rooms outside, surrounding a twee pond with trees and flowerless rockeries. The rooms were all furnished with impressive paintings, Chinese wall-hangings and huge porcelain pots, so big I could probably hide in one (....I didn't). Very popular Habitat Brochure look a few years back.

We left Suzhou, for Huang Shan, having discovered a very interesting underpass in the process, incorporating a brothel as you cross the road safely!! It involved yet another overnighter and having to wait in Shanghai all day, but eventually we were snuggled in our beds, being ultra lucky with a bottom bunk, so we could actually sit up! Having settled and actually managed to fall asleep, sometime during the night I was hastily woken up by a very close torch beam in my face and being violently shaken. It felt like an interrogation ordeal and I was worried something was afoot. I realised quickly, with his hand motioning towards my pillow, that he was merely doing a safety check assuring that my bag was still where I'd put it (under my pillow). Very thorough I must say, but freakishly scary and I wonder how he knew that I'd hidden my bag there in the first place....oh well. Arrived in Tangkou, where we got a super-speedy bus to Huang Shan. I was in the passenger seat in the front and had to grab the maps and debris from the windscreen as we veered around the bends and manically overtook other vehicles. Got dumped on a road side as usual and had no clue as to where we were exactly. But a little old man met us and said he had a hotel, or knew of one. We followed with our usual caution and sceptism, but he came up trumps, boy did good. We were taken to a really nice place, run by the smiliest man, although no words were ever exchanged betweeen us as he didn't speak a word of English. It was super cheap, complete with TV, bathroom and view overlooking the mountains, with the added rare bonus of carpet!!!! It reminded me of our other previous mountain town encounters of Sapa and Datong. With a fresh air feel and humble dwelling village built up either side of a river. I walked around as Sarah napped and found everyone to be very friendly, just by saying hello, or Ni hao, as it's promounced. Saw our little man a few times and he was quite insistant that we are to dine in his restauraunt at some time. He even escorted me to find a drink, I think he must get commission for wherever he takes you, which I find really annoying and cheeky, so I listened to his little speech and banter about tours to the mountain, nodded and grinned in all the right places, knowing full well we weren't going to take him up on his ludicrous offer and promised I'd think about it. And yes, we'd think about eating in his restaurant...
The next morning we woke early at 5.30, ready to face Huang Shan, aka, The Yellow Mountain....but for our early efforts, it was so frustrating as we didn't know where to get a bus from or who to ask and how. So the clock was ticking, but bizarrely our little man turned up out of nowhere. Quite lucky really, as he was able to point us in the dierection of the bus stop. That would have been enough, but he insisted upon taking us there himself, so we had no choice but to follow suite and then, lo and behold the ol' commission trick comes out as we were being charged 20 yuan, for a ticket I knew full well to be 14. So I said as much and on we hopped into the nearest coach, just hearing his final words about eating in his restaurant when we return...bah!
Trying to find a seat was tricky, as I realised we had joined a tour-load of Chinese school teenagers, all in matching red caps and t-shirts. Seeing only one seat left I made my way to the very back, no doubt amongst the cool rude-boys and sat cozily in between them. Great. Within moments out came the tour leader standing at the front, pretty much at Sarah's shoulder, about to reel off the do's and don'ts no doubt (being Chinese I haven't a clue what was said) but by jove, he used his loud speaker. No need, it's small enough to hear you dude, and being right by Sarah, I think it permanently deafened her for the rest of the day. He didn't stop for the whole journey, which was a shame as the views were stunning. It was a very twisting and hair-pin bend of a ride, with the road dropping off as we climbed up into the clouds. It made my toes curl (and for those who know me well; my ass sweat).
Having got through the crowds of tour groups and other loud speaker parties (yes, there were more of them), we began our ascent. Holy Mother of Buddha it was intense. It was "up, up, up" and our mantra for "strong legs, strong legs, higher, higher" came to mind. It wasn't a clamber as such, as it's steps all the way, but that's like an 8 hour step/thigh master gym experience, in 38 degree heat.
I really enjoyed it though, with mountains all around and temples en route, there's always something to aim for. There's a feel of commoraderie too, as there's such a variety of tourists, from little toddlers, barely out of nappies (not that they ever wear them-just pee anywhere), to teenagers, couples, groups of lads, old grannies and Grandads hunched over, families with bags of food for picnics.... We were two of very few westerners, so it made it all the more funny for them to see us and I lost count of the number of photos we had to pose for, or were randomly snapped at. The top, was an area of the usual huge Chinese rock sculpture and restaurant with swarms of people. It was a little unbearable and so we started down , continuing a loop route. A lot of people cheat and use cable cars which are a frequent feature in China, especially if it saves tourists walking anywhere. I'm surprised they didn't have a travelator going to the toilets. The walk down made our legs super shakey, but we felt very satisfied afterwards. Needless to say, we went to the little guy's restaurant for our first meal out in China. I had a plate of vegetables-such luxury.

The next morning, another 5.30am songbird start, to get the bus to Heifei, then onto Haifeng. I didn't think I could make it out the room my legs were so stiff. I must be getting old. I could've done with a really nice hot bath. Heifei was just a mid-transit stop town before the train. It was horrendous in that we had no idea where the town was in relation to the bus station we were dropped at and again communication is a bugger and why is it I always need the loo, when there isn't one and we have to walk for ages?! Still, managed to find a bus to town and train station, where we booked our ticket to Kaifeng, not leaving til 11.30 at night. So we dumped our bags and had a whole day to play with. Everything seemed a bit of an effort to find here, but with friendly, helpful people we found internet and manged to spend hours there and in a supermarket, made helpful by the fact that you have to put any other bags in a locker before you go in. I had to go back and open the locker to get my trusty phrasebook out and manged somehow to lock our things in there forever. (Would be me wouldn't it?) I couldn't re-open it again. I'd left Sarah vulnerably upstairs in the supermarket and knew she'd be being laughed and pointed at up there alone, meanwhile I had to somehow find and ask someone how to open my locker and with no phrasebook (being the thing I was trying to get ironically) it was a nightmare. Luckily Buddha smiled down on me and an English speaking girl helped translate for me. I then had to fill in forms and sign stuff to say what was in there and then try and use another locker to put my stuff back in....enough....
The supermaket was insanely busy with speakers and tannoys blaring out and sold turtles and snakes live. So eventaully the end of our long wait came and having eaten our goodies on the spit -ridden floor between the smoking room and stinking toilet, we were laughed at out of the waiting room to our carriage. It was a hard-seat journey and in the last few hours I got my phrase book out to find something, only then to have the entire carriage gather in the aisle and on my seat to have an English lesson, tutored by the cheeky chappy who had shimmied his way up the carriage from seat to seat to plonk himself in our domain, but had trouble as the guy next to me refused to swap seats, penning me in a manner of being my bodyguard. Sarah got cornered by a helpful little girl trying to teach her Chinese. Sarah had to repeat everything and got praised by her Mum if she did it right, but had to repeat it over and over if she didn't. Quite a task master. It made the last few hours quite entertaing, but Sarah warned me never to get the book out again.

Arriving in Kaifeng at 8am, we did actually succomb to a bus. The only hotel we came across, from our book, was there, but looked posh. Suddenly worried about the price, but it turned out ok as we were put in their cheaper quarters!! But that was grand enough and guess what, it was complete with a bath!! It was just like a run-down Holiday Inn, room. Looks grand until you start noticing the worn and rough edges, but suited us greatly. We were slightly disappointed by Kaifeng as it was described as an ancient walled city, ideal for leisurely walking around. No way. It was a less than interesting usual town of the usual shops. Still, it made up for it by having a fantastically comfortabe bed and bath and we were finally able to catch up on some sleep and rest for a couple of days.

We had booked our train ticket to Xi'an, so another early start of 5am. We had a carriage more or less to ourselves, with a whole padded a seat to spread out on, shared only by an odd French couple. It was positively spacious and almost too cool with the air-con (such a rarity I daren't admit it). We arrived in Xi'an and found Bob's Guesthouse without too much of a problem (having only gone up and down the same roads 4 times). I liked Xi'an as it was easy to walk around, even though there's much work going on, no doubt for the Olympics as everywhere is, but it was big and busy with many cosmopolitan shops and a juxtapositon of old and new buildings.
Our main mission was to visit the Terracotta Warriors. We bussed it and almost got off at the wrong place- a mausoleum and I got caught in the door, but we made it and it was as good as we'd hoped. It's the front cover of my China bible and so meant a lot to go there. The dug out pits are all under cover in proper halls and pit 1 is by far the most impressive, holding the mass of standing terracotta soldiers and horses. The detail on them is incredible and there's a few kept out on display in glass cabinets that show this. To think that there was an army built and covered underground to take the Emperor to the underworld, is really strange. They even thought to make and carry spare parts on board, in case of a made up, imaginary emergency, such as spare horse bits...bizarre. The whole complex then expands to tacky replicas and postcards, arts and crafts, all the same and yet all within the same vicinity. Then with randoms, selling the same things for cheaper, from their baskets. It was an exhausting, yet brilliant experience.
After another day leisurely walking around the interesting Muslim district, we were off to Pingyao, having secured a train ticket from the pre-warned difficulty of being able to do so, proved that our skills in ticket purchasing have improved. Mind you, the pushing and shoving and inadequacy of queing meant I was pinned to a metal bar for a good while as I tried to escape the madness.
We had a day to wait as usual, which becomes a bit annoying as it is a waste of a day, even so, we found ourselves suddenly running very late as our watches and station clocks all said different, but the train left at 10.30pm and we were lucky to make it. We got on board breathless from running to our allocated bunks, so ready to fall asleep, when er...they were occupied. We checked the numbers, all correct and carriage, yep, but then realised that the the ticket date was the previous day, when we had bought them. Bugger. So we showed a lady and she promptly shoved us off the train. I tried to explain the situation but she ranted on in Chinese. I tried to show her my phrase of "are the any other seats?" But she was having none of it and waved her hands at me and refused to look. I was not going to wait yet another day and have to pay for another night in a hotel, when we were already going to have to buy another ticket. So I walked up the platform, aware that the train was about to leave any moment, and found a guard. I showed him our ticket and he assumed we were just stupid and quickly ushered us on board, only to take us back down to where we'd just been!!Eeek! I tried to say something and in the meantime, the train started up and we were out the station. We then came face to face with the now very angry lady who'd thrown us off and she shouted at the guard and I think the air turned blue. Times like that I don't mind not knowing Chinese. Luckily, a sweet girl came along and explained our situation and we were able to (though somewhat resentfully) buy another ticket and get a bunk.

The intial reaction to Pingyao was disappointment , another Kaifeng it seemed as it was supposed to be a picturesque, ancient walled city, ideal for strolling around.... mmmm.....sounds familiar, well, we had a gruesome walk from the station, but soon came across these walls and once we went through the archway, it was a completely different world. We left the dirty, manic, traffic and hassle behind, to walk up a cobbled street through small, humble brick houses with classic red lanterns swinging from the rafters and Chinese wall hangings on the doorways. It was like something out of a film set...just how I'd hoped. We stayed in a typical Chinese homestay, down a quieter alley from the bustling streets lined with shops and stalls, selling numerous souvenirs of old looking ornaments, fans, hats, chopsticks, figurines....the list is endless.
We had a rather interesting bathroom attached to our room, that was shared with the rest of the guests. The tricky thing was, we had access to it from within our room, but without knocking each time it was hard to tell if someone was still in the or not. Needless to say, it back-fired once, when I (of couse it would be) did open the door on somone already in there and caught their reflection, sitting on the toilet. Luckily they didn't see me, so I was able to hide my embarressment forever!
We went to the famous Shaughlin Temple while we were in Pingyao and all I think of now is the monotonous music that followed us all around, which is one of those weird calming, chanting CDs they try and sell at garden centres or in an alternative bohemian shop. It still haunts me. The Temple was so old if a little eerie, as we looked into the rooms, the statues, many of which made of papier-mache, were behind bars and in darkness, so only their silohettes of their freakish faces could be glimpsed. It was like a still-life zoo. It was very peaceful though and different to others we'd seen.
During our walk back, it seems that again, having been to a holy site we may have been protected from such feral and crude behaviour, of a man that I thought had just had to relieve himself by the roadside (not nice,but not unusual) but no, he was doing something far more unpleasant and hopped on his motorbike to follow us up the road to finish off. Is nowhere sacred! Really?!
On our final day in Pingyao, waiting for the night-train, we had some bizarre encounters as we perched upon a wall, involving the dirtiest, smelliest old man I'm sorry to say. His skin was literally black with an oily dirty residue and his fingernails were long and claw-like. He wore soiled and shapeless clothes and was shouting to himself or anybody who'd listen. He then spied us and came over, plonking himself right next to me and slapped my thigh as hard as possible and then my arm, leaving behind the greasy black fingerprints in the process. Now we had an audience of other Chinese tourists and locals, finding the whole episode amusing, made infuriating as he then took out some Woody Allen style fake prop glasses, as if we were all part of skit. With the hope of returning for a few quiet moments back to our hotel, we were then interviewed by the Chinese Tourist Board about our thoughts and opinions on Chinese food, culture and Pingyao. Made more uncomfortable by having numerous photos taken of us at very close proximity and our hostess standing listening and she blatantly knew we'd not been eating at her restaurant.

We finally left to get our train at 8.30pm and settle in the dizzy heights of our all too familiar top bunk. Unfortunately it didn't last long, at 4.30am I was rudely jolted from my slumber to find we had arrived in Datong. We team-worked the area, leaving one with the baggage, while the other searches for a hotel and vise-versa. Luckily I got talking with a guy that said there was a cheap hotel , good job as neither of us had found one. So we followed him and came next door to the Police Station. I wondered if perhaps free cells were offered at discount rates for hard-up tourists.....obviously not,but could work...the room itself was fine and it was rock-bottom cheap, but never before had I seen a corridor actually equipped with spitting buckets outside each room. Grim, but better than just anywhere I suppose. We had so wanted a shower, but apparently the hot water didn't come on til 6pm, which is when the showers are unlocked. Fine, we'll wait. We bought our ticket reaDy for Beijing, knowing how booked up it can get. We then perused the city, but less than impressed as it's just another big city, though with a real likeness for Chinese firecrackers. I so wanted to buy what I thought was a big-ass firework for you Dad, but somehow not sure it'll get through customs, not unless I hide it somewhere...... Unfortunately 6pm came and no one was around with a key to unlock the shower. Weird but maybe she had meant the morning....
Morning came with a fire-cracking start, woken by explosive devices lined up along the steet, it was a little unnerving...
Having gone on a search to find someone to open a shower I found the lady who then told me that the hot water came on at 6pm, was this deja-vu??!! At this point I didn't mind a cold shower, but she as having none of it, so to wait til 6pm again...We spent the day at the sight we'd come to see...Yungang Caves. An hour's bus ride away we made it without getting blown-up en-route by firecrackrs and although a part of the caves were under re-construction, what we did see, which was most of it was awesome. Apparently there's 45 grottos/caves, a mixture of weather-beaten and preserved halls protected by a wooden facade. Inside are carved stone workings of Buddha, deities, Boddhivistas and other religious icons. The detail is incredible and the preservation, particularly of the painted carvings are really beautiful, especially for something so old, around 300-400 AD. They go so high and deep into the rocks, I've no idea how it was done.I like looking through the caves, to see a massive Buddha set back, looking wisely out across the landscape. It makes you feel very small. So having been wowed by the caves, we were back at our scuzzy abode and waiting for the showers...again...and yes, they were still locked WHAT is up with this place? Does no one shower?? It was only at about 8pm I heard the faint trickle of water coming from the bathroom (if you'd call it that) and so I sprinted to find the shower unlocked and a lady with a key!! Yay!! I was lucky enough to share this rare opening of thy sacred shower, but Sarah unfortunately was too late and was literally man-handled out of the shower still wrapped in her towel by the lady with the key, that seemed to be going for a second shower within moments of the first - gotta have them when you can I guess....so bizarre, time to leave.
Having to wait yet another day for the night train, we have almost reached saturation point of being laughed at, even when people say hello to us and we reply back, why it's so funny we don't know. The spitting and hokking up an ugh, the nasty, foul smelling urinals, many of which are open, yes open latrines I tell you, there's nothing pleasant about walking passed a little old lady squatting over a hole as you hold your breath to go to the futhest corner...enough, one horrendous night train journey later we rolled into Beijing at 5am, having not slept, kept awake by a ghastly smelly-sausage eating child that was in my face and Sarah had endured the spiky haired itchy rub of a small boy held by his mother as we sat squidged 4 to a seat.
The train station was huge, but we managed to book a ticket for Tai'an, unfortunatley not til midnight. We had a whole day to wait, feeling grotty. We luckily found out that the train went from another station, where we dumped our bags an made ourselves semi presentable. For the few hours we were there, we experienced the art student scam, of the Calligraphy festival that just so happened to be taking place on that very day...the day as a waster but topped off by the most perfect apple and cinnamen muffin I've ever tasted, from a row of eateries known as Gourmet street...can't wait for when we come back and spend time here, I shall make my way through the variety of flavours.....

Tai'an was so what we needed. We arrived 6am and found the right bus for once, although it was gping in the wrong direction we got on it anyway and looped the town. We found a hotel that looked pricey beyond our means, but having dismissed the place the manager was there and halved the price immediately. This was a deal, but still out of budget and so he dropped it even futher. A real bargain and for such a luxurious room. It was like another Holiday Inn place, with TV, nice bathroom, freebee soaps and toothbrushes, two mega comfy beds, a water cooler/heater/tea and A BATH!!! All topped off by a huge wall-length window with the mountain range as a perfect picture! The rest of the day was a major re-coopeation having not slept for about three or 4 days and been travelling non-stop. Plus we needed to save our energy for our big climb in the morning!!

With an unfortunately early start of 6am, we found our way to the base of Tai Shan; a mere 6,660 step ascent into the sky. It was a really pretty walk actually, as the first part passed temples and a river. It was not half a crowded as Huang Shan had been, which made it easier to stay on the steps and not have quite so many photos taken of us. The top was very misty and shrouded in cloud, it got quite chilly. Having conquered the climb along with the other cable-car repellers, we should be guarenteed to live to be 100!! Very satisfying.
We'd given ourselves another day's grace in our penthouse suite and so went to Beijing the next day. We were running late and had to run through the checkpoints, pegging down the stairs (not easy with the backpack and usual bag of rubbish I'm lugging around), just in time to see a train pull away. With my heart in my mouth, luckily our train was just arriving and on we were ushered on. The final train of China!!!! So sad really that Sarah and I were in completely different carriages of the train, but they were the only tickets available! With my stuff securely dumped I joined Sarah. We soon got ourselves from the train station onto the metro and headed for central Beijing, looking for a hostel . With our usual teamwork of separation, I waited as Sarah went walkabout (I'd only get lost ) and in the meantime got chatting with the traffic warden and some other random. Managed to locate their recommended hostel, which was in prime location to all the tourist needs. Oddly though, it was the first place we'd stayed in in China where we weren't 5 stories up, but 4 down, it was underground! The room, was simple, but equipped incongruously with a DVD Player - finally we could watch the pirate copies we've bought!

Beijing is big and busy, but one of the nicer cities China has to offer. We visited a really furious market selling all the souvenirs you can imagine. The sellers are so aggressive and will literally grab you by the arm until you meet a price. There's so much stuff, 6 floors of silks, ornaments, golf equipment, calligraphy, clothes, fans, etc...it's loud and manic.
Our main day out was to visit the Great Wall, having had an epic bus journey to get there we were dumped miles from the bus station to get a transfer. It seemed there were no buses going to Jinshanling, (where we planned to walk about 10km along a section of the wall), according to a very feisty lady with drawn on eyebrows, who happened to have a cousin who was a taxi driver.....oh please, it's all so contrived...There then appeared two guys from Austria, looking to do the same walk as us. So it came that we got a taxi there-our first and hopefully last for China.
The Great Wall was amazing. We were super lucky to have the entire section more or less to ourselves as the boys romped on ahead as they wanted to meet the taxi driver back. The only people we kept seeing were people trying sell water or postcards at the watchtowers and for a certain distance, we were followed by Mongolian women with a sure-fire shortcut....mmmm for a price....
Parts of the walk were really steep, supposedly a 70 degree incline. It was a bit of a hands-on scrabble especially where it was crumbly and slipped away. With not the best head for heights, it reminded me of a recurring nightmare I used to have...well,they do say they come true. It made my feet sweat. Looking across, the landscape to see the watchtowers dissappear into hazy cloud and the wall weave along the undulating hills was so fantastic though.
We eventually got to Simutai, but alas, there's no buses that go back to Beijing. We started walking back to what we thought was the main road, but luckily a chappie came along and offered us a lift..note, we did not hitch hike, we merely accepted a lift and we had a quick getaway plan should something suss happen (usually involving my "put them in a headlock" theory), anyway, good job as it was absolutely miles from the road, at least 30 mins by car. So we were on the main road, but alas..no buses...deja-vu again...but luckily we were offered a lift by another 2 chappies (note, not hitch-hiking...), so with caution we got in as we really had little alternative to get to the bus stop at the next town. We suddenly worried that we were going to have to pay, but he assured us in his basic English "No Pay!!". It was a comical half hour's ride, as he started to sing, very loudly and very badly. I could barely contain my fits of giggles, but didn't want to offend him should he decide to dump us roadside. All he asked in return was a token photo on his mobile phone (nothing dodgy), as he dropped us literally to the doors of the bus. How kind is that? We didn't get back to Beijing til around 9pm, so tired and hungry.

Having had a good night's sleep, we spent the next day at The Forbidden City. It was as every place in China is, very busy and we followed a filing fashion around like a trail of ants. It was bigger than I thought it would be, having large halls and little alleyways with smaller rooms branching off to the left and right. It reminded me a little of the open square at The Vatican (if anyone's been?). Being so immensely hot, we trooped out way in and out of the air-conned rooms of artefacts and through to the garden to seek shade and peace. Only interrupted once by a mother insisting she took a photo of us with her child. I loved the vibrant colours of the buildings and the detail to doors. My favourite room was probably the Emperor's bedroom as the bed looked so cosy with a pretty silk duvet. I could quite easily have curled up and escaped the mayhem for an hour or two in there. Unfortunately I barely got a glimpse as the continuouss pushing and shoving for the want of a photo of said room was relentless. I swear I was bruised.
Anyway, that more or less concludes China, save for my getting another set of photos ready for Nepal, I made sure my hair was perfect and so I looked less like Gene. More, Gene's sister....
So it's off to Nepal we go to explore the jungle of tigers and elephants and a three week trek around the Annapurna Circuit.........
P.S. Katie Mellua is wrong and needs to get her facts right, there's nowhere near as many as 9 million bicycles in Beijing, maybe she meant Shanghai?

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Photos

Shanghai
The architectural mecca along The Bund.

Shanghai
The more European side of The Bund.

Suzhou
The Master of Nets Garden

Steps
Sarah making her way up...I think she's counting...

Lovers' Locks
Couples carry a padlock up to the top of Huang Shan to symbolise their unity.

Warrior Soldier
They really are quite scary

Pingyao
The softly illuminated streets of the ancient walled city.

Giant Buddha
One of the giant Buddha sculptures.

Painted Faces
The age-old paint still remains on the less expose carvings.

Buddha in the cave
Not an imaginative caption....

80's throw back
I know it doesn't look cool, but embracing the sweat band was at times a must......you can't see my wrist one....

Tai'an
The view from our room at dusk.

Doorway to Tai Shan
One of the typical Chinese archways along the way to the peak.

The Great Wall
Need I say more?

Watch Towers
Inside looking out, I became an Ancient Wall protector and sported an attacking bow and arrow in my defence (I would have done but nobody was selling those)

Up and down.....and on...
Bloody impressive though hey?!

How steep?
Some parts were so steep I couldn't even see the next step below...

Last one !
So many photos, I was just in awe, the views were truly breath taking! Just how I imagined and conjures up China in a photo.

Detail
The buildings are very well preserved...probably something to do with the Olympics soon....

Garden of Serenity
One of the Temples within The Forbidden City.