(Day 142 on the road)So I am back in Beijing, this time in order to enjoy the Olympic Games. The first night I stayed with the mother of my friend Li, which was really nice. We didn't share the same language but nevertheless communicated quite well! I was to meet Li and her husband a few times over the next days, ending it with a very nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant - the perfect tuning in to Japan, where I will be heading next. In Beijing, I also met again with Jen and Eric, an American couple teaching English in Xi'an and whom I had climbed Hua Shan with two months previously. It was cool to see them again, and we went to watch the Softball Gold medal match together between the US and Japan ... read more

(Day 132 on the road)According to China Daily (the Chinese government-owned English language propaganda newspaper), 862 million Chinese watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. A good week later, it seemed like those same 862 million Chinese had chosen to climb the Yellow Mountains at just the same time that we were climbing it. The masses of people and the noise on the mountain were just unbelievable, and completely destroyed the experience for me. They were like ants on the mountain, and their sole purpose for being up there seemed to be in making as much noise as possible, as opposed to enjoying the scenery. So if you are contemplating about going to Huang Shan, thing twice. Even if I had the chance, I certainly would not go back. Getting to Huang Shan involved an epic ... read more

(Day 128 on the road)After twelve hours on the bus from Chendu through the earthquake region of Sichuan, we arrived at the national park of Jiuzhaigou. Jiuzhaigou was the main reason for coming this far north from Lugu Lake in Yunnan, but looking back, it was well worth it. The UNESCO recognised park is famous for its crystal clear mirror lakes and its waterfalls, and we spent the whole day wandering around this beautiful landscape. On the downside, the steep entrance fee of 220 yuan plus a 90 Yuan charge to use the shuttle bus inside the park (you need it, it is huge) left a somewhat bitter aftertaste (as did the ridiculously overpriced food inside the park). Karen had tried once before to come here when she had been to Chengdu previously, but due to ... read more

(Day 126 on the road)After the failure at Emei Shan, Karen and I decided to spend a few days in Chengdu to get our bearings, do our laundry and just generally enjoy the comforts of the city (which we did). We also wanted to be in a big city to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, preferably with an international crowd. In the end, we settled for the only Irish Pub in town. Even though the Opening Ceremony itself was perfect, all in all we did not have quite the good time we had hoped for. We had chosen the Irish Pub assuming that we would be able to watch the ceremony on an international sports channel with English commentary. I had been reading quite a few critical comments about China handling the run-up ... read more

(Day 121 on the road)To get to my next stop, Lugu Lake, I had to backtrack to Lijiang in order to catch a bus from there to the lake. In Lijiang, I was also going to meet up again with Karen, who had not made it into Tibet after all and was travelling around the same area, so we decided to travel together again. The five hour bus-journey from Shangri-La to Lijiang was awful: The middle aged woman next to met spat right on the floor between her legs continuously, making the floor so disgusting after a short while that she couldn't put her own feet on the floor anymore. After about two hours, I realised that she wasn't feeling too well (maybe all that spit made her sick) and sure enough, a few minutes later ... read more