What a difference 2000+kms makes :)

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So .. you know how I was complaining about the cold? Yeah, now we're in 32 degree heat - I guess that's what I get for complaining so much.

The thousands of kilometres were covered in two long distance trains. One trip, 25 hours worth, got us from Xian (in cenral China) down to Guangzhou (very close to Hong Kong). We were planning to spend about 4-6 days visiting Guangzhou (epic shopping) and Hong Kong and Macau (epic night life, food and sights .. not to mention western amenities). Unfortunately, one large trade show (Guangzhou) and the Chinese government changing its policies on visas (to go to Hong Kong or Macau essentially means you leave China ... and we have only one more entry to China left ...which we are hoping to use for Tibet) put paid to that. Oh, and not to mention that accomodation rates have shot up in all three places to about triple what we're paying everywhere else - d'oh!

So, we changed plan and decided to head to Hainan island. The trains were good - we had two nights sleeping with strangers in tiny beds and in Andrew's case, one night in the very top bunk .. around 2.5m off the floor with probably 400mm between the bed and the roof - getting in to bed was a laugh, as was trying to turn over in the middle of the night!

But the trains were cool overall and we got to meet quite a few english speaking folk and a few non-english speakers who were very interested in our card games and the pizza hut dot game that Kelly whipped up 😊. We even managed our first ferry trip, all from the comfort of our train (although the bangs and crashes that accompanied the effort were a tiny bit concerning)

Drowsily, and about 40 hours after we started out, we arrived in sunny Sanya. To 32 degree heat. You see, Sanya is basically a resort city almost directly opposite Vietnam. Its so little like the rest of China and so much like what we expect of the rest of South East Asia, that its a little bizzarro. Once we got on the island there was blue sky (!), white sand, guys tending their rice paddies, water buffalo and green everywhere the eye could see! Coming from Northern China where everything is dry, brown and grey to the lushness here was a breath of fresh air.

The city of Sanya itself is also a little odd. Think, Chinese Gold Coast with Russian writing everywhere, people saying hello in Russian instead of english, with hundreds of Chinese tourists wearing matching hawaiian shirts and shorts ! (yes, matching shorts and shirts- photos will be forthcoming!!!). So yeah, we're a little weirded out but happy. We continued our western food binge with pancakes and a smoothie for kelly today but made up for it last night with a messy plate of local prawns ... piled high for around NZ$5 ..mmmm.

We're a bit tired after all the trains (all that sitting around is hard work) so we're just taking it easy here - not many sights to see - just good food, the beach and a little shopping at the night markets.

Off for a coconut with a straw in it and another 50c bottle of beer 😊

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Photos

Bruce, we love you
First Bruce Lee reference so far - an awesome fast food chain .. the savoury custard and hot soy milk were .. interesting

Sweet blue sky
From the train on Hainan Island - our first blue sky since the great wall ... not too mention awesome fishing boats and white sand ...

Hee hee
Ignore the guy on the left - the two matching guys are who you need to see - people everywhere like this. What a laugh, but I guess they're happy!

Purdy
Some nice lanterns just outside our hostel ... in the 'gastronomy square' ... a top notch food court kind of place - think food alley but outside and with more seafood

Neon!
The glowing coconuts are especially cool

A new favourite sign
So sweet ... these were all over the place