Thrusday 19th February On arrival at Guilin Airport we are greeted off the plane by chinahighlights rep Lily who is all smiles as we pass through the arrivals door. Lily is a bit nervous to begin with as she explains some information about Guilin City and the surrounding Yangshou County and we agree to just crack on with our first visit rather than go to the hotel to dump our luggage. The sun's come out and we are treated so some spectacular scenery along the way as the characteristic hills that make Yangshou district famous are now protruding through the horizon. Its a breath of fresh air as there's no high rise buildings and its got more of a country side feel to it as we travel along the smaller and less busier roads. Our first ... read more

Sunday 13th February We arrived into Shanghai under the darkness of night and our tour guide holding our name board up tonight is Diana. As usual her English is very good and we are ushered to our waiting cab and driven off towards the city. Its about 40 minutes drive into Shanghai and already we can sense the enormity of the place as towering buildings shadow the roads and the distant glow of the city gets closer. Shanghai s the most populous city in China, located in eastern China and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The population is a staggering near 20 million! Due to its rapid growth in the last two decades, Shanghai has again become one of the world's leading cities, exerting influence over finance, commerce, fashion, and culture. Shanghai is ... read more

Saturday 12th February Shortly after we left the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda we find ourselves heading for the Terracotta Army Mausoleum site in the Lintong District. Its a ten Minute walk through the Mausoleum grounds and after we've passed through two security checks we arrive at the Mausoleum shop. One of the farmers that found the site was actually there and signing books. He found the first pit by accident in 1974 while digging for water and is a bit of a local hero. Apparently he didn't receive a reward for finding the hidden army so he charge's people for his signature on the official books that they sell here. Sometimes known as the eighth wonder of the world, the terracotta warriors were commissioned by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang Di. When Qin ... read more

Friday 11th February We're leaving for Xi'an later on today but before we leave Beijing we are heading to the outskirts of the city towards The Summer Palace or Gardens of Nurtured Harmony as its sometimes known. Once we've had breakfast and checked out we're then driven through the Financial district of Beijing and towards the foot of the mountains in the Northwest. On arrival we notice the beautiful houses that line the streets outside the Palace walls which is a far cry from the residential areas we visted yesterday. We can already see The Summer Palace and Buddist Temple sitting proudly on Longevity Hill in the distance. The Summer Palace grounds covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man ... read more

Tuesday 8th February Our taxi from Pattaya to Bangkok cost around £20 and its the usual check in and boarding routine when we get there. We have a one stop flight to Beijing being a 2 hour flight to Kuala Lumpar then 7 hours up to Beijing. We arrived in KL at 10.15pm and caught the flight to Beijing a hour later for an overnight plane journey. Wednesday 9th February The wake up call from the captain at 6am alerts us to the fact that its -6oC in Beijing. Even more bothering is the 45 minutes waiting on the tarmac after landing due to a mechanical fault with one of the wheels which prevented us form reaching the arrival platform. Another long wait at immigration before we are greated outside by our guide and private car ... read more