Sin got up early today to hit the gym. Surprised he has energy left in him as I am completely exhausted. I woke up to find almost 400 e-mails on my Blackberry that had not reached me these last few days in the mountains. Following a Western breakfast, and leaving my car behind, we headed for Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain with it’s 9 peaks. What can I say about Tiger Leaping Gorge except it has a great name that raises expectations only not to deliver. The Snow mountains surrounding the gorge however are breathtaking. We took the Landcruiser up the valley to a secluded farmroad that led us to the start of our trek. Apparently this particular trail takes 3 whole days to complete, but time was not a luxury we ... read more

Woke up early to catch the sunrise over Qionghai Lake, then hit the roads. I'd remembered passing a sign for the Xichang Satellite Launch Facility not far from Xichang, so I proposed to the team that we visit it before heading for Luguhu Lake. About 30 minutes out of Xichang, through Yi farmland, we reached the facility. Unfortunately the launch site, which is nessled in the mountains, is not open to Laowai (foreigners), but the soldiers at the gate did say we could visit the museum 4km away. What can I say about the museum except that every item looked like a school project. They even had Astronaut suits which you could put on to have your photo taken next to a tin can resembling a rocket. Unfortunately, the suits were not real, and the helmet ... read more

We left our hotel at 8:30am for the short ride to the “Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding”. Chengdu Monday morning traffic and Chengdu drivers are just as bad as in Shanghai. Actually the thing I noticed so far was that drivers all over China are much the same and totally insane, except for in Beijing.. In Beijing, drivers stick to their lanes, indicate, and generally do not try to cut you up into small chunks of metal. Apparently this is a well known fact, but I diverge. Back to the Pandas. What can I say? They are cute, cuddly, and extremely lazy, pretty much spending the morning eating bamboo on their backs, and the afternoons sleeping. They’ll sleep anywhere. Up trees, on the ground, making makeshift sofas out of bamboo trees. So cute were ... read more

We had the whole day to spend at Jiuzhaigou. The pictures speak for themselves. Who could have imagined such scenery existed in China. What is not captured in the photographs are the throngs of tourists. Jiuzhaigou however, is a massive valley, and the system of regular buses shuttling visitors up and down the passes to the scenic spots is very organized. The weather was perfect. This first photo of the beautiful lake was taken over 4,000m above sea level. This photo, and the photo of the sunrise over Pingyao and the "Road to Datong" have to be my favourite photos so far on this trip. Can’t wait to see Stel and Sin’s catalogue of pictures. Jiuzhaigou was simply breathtaking even despite Spring not being the best season to visit. I might consider coming again in Autumn. ... read more

I'll spare the details of last night's farewell for Stel T and just mention that I don't think we have ever laughed so much in our lives. The night involved a number of China junkies from around the world whom we met in this hip Terracotta themed pub, and a Japanese import by the name of "Ping Pong Pang". I think we finished around 3:00am and said our farewells to Stel who needed to catch a plane this morning. Woke up at 8:30am and headed to Antique Street to see if I could find a 1/4th scale replica of the Emperor's charriot like the one we saw a day earlier at the Tomb shop. Then the team grouped up at 10:30 am for the 580km drive to Jiangyou in Sichuan province. This road is through gorgeous ... read more