A quick stop in Nanning was just long enough to experience a Chinese haircut. The beard was long gone by now and unfortunately self-shaved after learning that many barbers only really wipe their razor blades between customers. Lasting almost two hours the trip to the barbers was an event itself. After numerous shampoos and conditioners had been worked in, my ears cleaned and my head, neck, back, arms and hands thoroughly massaged the cutting could finally start. The stylist Danny took great care and attention over the job and since Nanning seems to attract very few tourists my haircut generated great entertainment amongst the locals. After another shampoo and blow dry I was finally released and rather pleased with the results for £3.00. Unfortunately Helen opted out of a trim thinking it would only be a 10 minute affair and spent the entire time reading Chinese magazines.
Taking a boat along the Li River from Guilin to Yangshou took us through spectacular Karst landscape, slightly marred by the huge procession of other boats in front and behind us. We had decided to stay out in the sticks to get away from the backpacker bars and KFCs and though this always seems a great idea when booking up, when you take a taxi ride out of civilisation you begin to have second thoughts. The guest house turned out to be fantastic, nestled right amongst the hills. After a friendly Malaysian tour group left we had the place to ourselves.
The owner of the hotel took us out for an early morning bike ride through the countryside, weaving between rice paddies and remote villages. 5 hours and 30km later we peeled ourselves off the bikes and despite the aches and pains it was certainly one of the highlights of our trip so far. When we got back we found an eight legged lodger in our room, about 20cm long and looking ready to bite 
Making a hasty retreat back to Guilin, we took a series of local buses out to the rice terraces of Ping’an, known as the ‘Dragon’s Backbone’. Much excitement took over the driver on route and we discovered he had run over an Adder. It must have been highly prized as the conductor scraped it off the floor and put it in the boot for safe keeping, complete with cartoon tyre marks striped across its back.
The rice terraces are a very impressive sight and were being harvested as we arrived. Although we didn’t get to see them in their full glory it was nevertheless interesting to see villagers go about their work. After some cool walks along the terrace paths we stopped off at a local school and kicked some ass in an East vs. West basketball match. You may think I look twice the height of the other players but I assure you this is just a trick of the camera.
We’d been looking forward to arriving in Hong Kong for a while, partly because of the Western luxuries there and partly because of the great Cantonese food they serve. Hong Kong island’s skyline is an incredible sight to welcome you to the city though a view of the harbour was no where to be seen in our backpacker hostel. We had ideas of splurging for a 5 star hotel but as soon as we realised costs were roughly three times more expensive than mainland China we quickly revised our plans.
Cars drive on the left here and the road signs and street names are all British creations. We stopped for an outstanding afternoon tea in the Four Seasons hotel and as we sat in the chilly air-conditioned room with torrential rain falling outside it almost felt like being back home.
After a trip up to Victoria Peak to look down on the skyscrapers we explored all over the city taking trams and the famous Star Ferry back across the harbour into Kowloon. We spent our last night in an Australian bar watching a Filipino Jazz band while we figured out how many weeks of Pot Noodles we’d need to get our budget back on track.
A real highlight of our time in Shanghai was going to a performance of traditional Chinese acrobatics. Some of the stunts they were pulling were unbelievable and we had our hearts in our mouths watching them defy the laws of physics. One performer stole the show however with an old-school Nuneaton robot dance. Check out the pictures and see if you can spot her
The 1st October marks National Day in China and is a three day holiday to celebrate their independence. We had been warned that this would be a nightmare to travel in so decided to take ourselves off to Hangzhou’s West lake for a bit of R&R away from the chaos of Shanghai city life. Unfortunately for us everyone else in China seemed to have exactly the same idea and at times walking around the picturesque lake was like trying to cross the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury after the headline act has just finished.
Nevertheless, we walked for 6 miles round the circumference of the lake and despite the crowds it was beautiful and really well cared for. Being the active couple that we are we also hired bikes and followed a path into the tea fields and bamboo forests. The scenery was beautiful and we went to a villagers house to sample the tea she had hand picked in the hills. The bikes were built for the Chinese market so even with the seat and handlebars fully erected we still felt like Brand from The Goonies with our knees around our ear holes.
To our delight the local Carreforre supermarket sold red wine and cheddar cheese along with French bread. We stocked up on supplies and had a picnic by the side of the lake. The Chinese tourists looked horrified at our food - now they know how we feel when they tuck into eyeball soup!
We may well have been stranded at the lake due to holiday transport nightmares if it hadn’t have been for Jim and Lucy. We met them on the train on the way over and they offered us a ride back with their car and driver. Thanks again guys, we are really grateful!
We caught the Lhasa to Shanghai train as it passed through Xi’an. Each compartment had its own oxygen valve which is used when the train makes high altitude passes in Tibet. Celebrity status was notched up another gear on this train with both sexes fighting for photographs with Mark and to tell him in broken English how handsome he was.
Arriving in Shanghai in stifling heat amongst the chaos of crowds and traffic, the city seemed much less effected by Beijing’s Olympic makeover. As we explored the streets and alleyways we felt we got a far more realistic picture of everyday life in a Chinese metropolis. There is a stark contrast between old and new with the colonial architecture of the Bund and the old town’s traditional dwellings being overshadowed by an ultra-modern skyline.
We sipped cocktails on the 87th floor of the Jin Mao building in the world’s highest bar. As the sun set and the city lights sparkled beneath us we were reminded of how tough the backpacker life can be sometimes 
Bad dir: wp-content/plugins/gallery/20081004_shanghai
We stopped off en-route to Shanghai for a brief stay in Xi’an to visit the Terracotta Army. Strolling through the night markets in the Muslim quarter, we ate delicious steamed dumplings and haggled hard with the shop keepers for a Xun.
The fountain show at the Big Goose Pagoda would make the Bellagio jealous and we never got bored of watching people getting drenched unexpectedly by a new jet of water.
We joined some other travellers on a public bus to the Warrior’s excavation site and clubbed together for our knowledgeable guide Jason. What the archaeologists have uncovered so far is very impressive but the vast majority still remains buried until more advanced preservation techniques are developed. We were surprised to learn that the warriors are decoratively painted and this quickly decays when they are exposed to air. We imagined that it might look a bit like this.
We took a night sleeper train from Beijing to Pingyao; a small walled city that has retained it’s traditional architecture and way of life. The buildings are all made from the same grey stone and no building except the pagodas exceeds two stories. It’s often used for movie sets and we could easily imagine Chinese warriors running across the rooftops Crouching Tiger style.
The old-world charm was slightly dented thanks to an International photography exhibition taking place on the same weekend. The village was rammed with photographers sporting some of the most impressive looking camera equipment we’ve have ever seen. They seemed as interested in photographing us as the scenery, though we’re getting used to our new found celebrity status in China.
Bad dir: wp-content/plugins/gallery/20081002_pingyao
Hiring a pair of bikes was a great way to travel around the city and get a taste of everyday Beijing life. The junctions are slightly hazardous though; even when you’re on green other traffic can still turn right into your path, so when in doubt we got very close to the locals and followed exactly what thy did. We saw lots of smaller temples, bell towers and Hutongs (small residential alleyways) that you could never see in a car. This architecture is under threat as they modernise the city however. Foreign architects have built some really exciting work here (see photos of ‘The Egg’ performing arts space and CCTV headquarters) but it would be a real shame to loose any more of these traditional areas. After 4 hours our bums had had enough so we traded the bikes for beers.
Bad dir: wp-content/plugins/gallery/20080926_bikes
Since being in China we have had some fantastic food and you begin to realise that the Chinese takeaway menu we know in the UK really doesn’t exist here. Generally the food is either much simpler like enormous watery soups with delicate flavours or really weird like feet, stomach and intestines of any animal you care to mention. Obviously when in Peking we had the obligatory duck, but also enjoyed delicious BBQ fish, dumplings and an interesting hotpot which we shared with our new friends Caz and Asa.
The small round cake you can see is called a moon cake and this is what everyone eats during the Mid-Autumn festival which we celebrated last Sunday. It was a time for families who live apart to either get together or if that’s not possible then to at least eat these cakes whilst looking at the same moon their loved ones looked at. Some were disgusting and Mark summed it up perfectly when he said it tasted as though they were filled with ear wax. Others however we delicious and filled with dried fruit and nuts.
Bad dir: wp-content/plugins/gallery/20080926_food
