We arrived in Shanghai around lunch time after sleeper train 2 (getting used to them now) having only eaten pot noodles for the duration of the train journey, we were in need of proper food so set off in search. After 2 hours walking the streets around the river we finallly found McDonalds. Feeling refreshed we went for a walk along the Bund, the famous riverside in shanghai. It was a lovely clear day and there were great views of Pudong, the business district across the river. Our first night was dinner with the rest of our group in a local [View Full Entry]

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We had our first experience of a sleeper train chinese style. during chinese new year. oh my god. I have never seen chaos like beijing train station! The evil mini bus driver wouldn' take us to the station itself so we had to walk with all our luggage to the madness of the waiting room. We eventually boarded our train and found our beds. 6 bunk beds to a compartment. not much else. not enough room to swing a proverbial cat. We were lucky and with two other people from our group, we had one of the bottom bunks so had [View Full Entry]

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After nearly a week in Beijing we left our hostel and drove 3 hours north to a remote section of the great wall, at Jinshanling. Mini bus transport is interesting in China. They're big fans of beeping their horns and overtaking on blind corners. Spent a lot of the journey with my eyes closed! At least there was a precarious pile of 12 back packs at the front of the bus to act as an airbag should we have needed it. The section of the great wall we went to was very remote, just us and a group of dedicated local [View Full Entry]

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We made it to Beijing after a long flight. Been here 4 days now so just about getting used to it! Main observation about Beijing - it's cold. Unbelievably cold (we've heard rumours of -11 in the day earlier this week, I'm pretty convinced I had mild hyperthermia. Cured by a chinese tea though so all is well). Rich's friend lung met us at Beijing airport and managed to get us to our hostel with ease, good job he was there cos the buses in beijing are crazy with no english on any maps. We'd probably still be at the airport, [View Full Entry]

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