The lake in the middle of Hongcun - stunning!

Dirt, beauty and train travel - the tough road through China

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August 28th 2007
As a starting point to the China leg of our trip, Shanghai was a slap in the face - after the warmth and politeness of the Japanese and Koreans, we found the local people to be hostile in the way that they stared at us and the way they would lurk behind you as if to steal what they can (mostly when on the trains) was quite unnerving! The difficulty we were going to have with language was apparent ... read more

Asia » China

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more