Geo: 33.13, 103.55Diamonds! And pearls and emeralds......we saw all of the gems today. Truly spectacular. A highlight of the trip so far.And okay, I did get in the car with the driver this morning and he completed a very sedate four minute drive to get us close to the park entrance. Mind you, we have had two other drivers and cars during the day and for the evening activities. Mac had a talk with Kerry today expressing our reservations about yesterday's ride. Kerry informed us that Mr Fong was a "slow driver."If you are into the bucket list thing....this one should be on yours! Jiuzhai Valley (Jiuzhaigou) has been set up to provide premium access for tourists. On our visiting day over 10 000 visitors passed through the park. On a busy high season day 30 ... read more

Geo: 30.67, 104.07Forget everything else - because this was the day of the panda. Amy is a tough task master and greets us with a wide smile at 8 am to head for the panda Research Station. We had a treat as we got out of the car because the sun was trying ever so hard to peek through the clouds and smog. We could see it with the naked eye - not sure you can spot it in the photos. This is truly an auspicious day.Amy's enthusiasm and love for the pandas is infectious and these national treasures reside in the most amazing facility. Perfectly groomed, stunningly green, immaculate presentation (certainly the direct opposite of the sturgeon farm) and pandas everywhere (or so it seemed). And even at this early hour, the centre was crawling ... read more

Geo: 29.88, 107.709The river views have changed so much now that we are out of the gorges. The towns that cover the banks of the river are thriving metropolitan areas and and there is an endless stream of barges downstream laden with manufactured goods. There was a glimpse of the sun at sunset and patches of blue sky throughout the day but the lingering mist of the gorges has been replaced by the low lying film of grey that is the signpost of industrial smog.Food, food and more food make up the day - interspersed with the cocktail of the day (Manhattan) and a sparkling wine with the cruise directors in the evening. The challenge remains to exercise constraint and pace yourself....dinner always has offerings of an entree, soup, salad, main course and dessert!We arrived much ... read more

Geo: 30.7776, 111.174Well that was a little surprising. Here we were thinking that we had been cruising slowly upstream through the night only to find out we were still moored at the dock.... The boat hadn't moved an inch,If you think that life on board the boat is "cruisey" think again. The schedule is full and the activities come thick and fast. There is no rest for the wicked or even "the lucky ones".Our dining table is set for the cruise and each meal is shared with an Australian family from Sydney (Nancy, Stephen and their son Matt) and a German couple (don't know their names yet). With 5 Aussies at the table we are already loud as our combined laughter echoes around the dining room. Our German colleagues try and keep up with very limited ... read more

Geo: 34.271, 108.992How could this day be anything but super special? It was always my favourite in the itinerary and we have been in training for a while!"Day 5 – Xi'an - Run to the Big Goose Pagoda"Luckily, Mr Shin and Jenny saved us and arrived on the dot of 9.30 ..... although in terms of muscle fatigue we have just about recovered from Monday's efforts on The Great Wall.First order of business was to visit the Buddhist temple...the Goose Pagoda.....referred to as the "big one" because a few kilometres away is the "small one". The seven storey ancient building is a land mark in Xi'an and is beautifully and lovingly maintained by the 40 resident monks. There is significant development in this precinct as Chinese Buddhist benefactors make significant contributions to new building projects. It ... read more