I wanted to try and sum up China, or at least my time in China. So I put together an overall, tar brush description of the people and place. The following is a list of fun facts and opinions on this giant contradiction of a country.

Part 1 So my 2 months in China is up, we have left the country and are back in Bangkok. I have long had a fascination with China, admittedly that fascination was, like most peoples, born of its historical facts, and whatever I had seen in the media.

Kangding and Tagong were our attempt to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern day China, and see a bit of Tibetan life. Kangding itself is an amazing place, a city nestled inbetween mountains and flowing along an ice blue river. The air

I worked out the other day, that since landing in China, I have spent around 70 hours on trains. That is, 70 hours in about a month and a half. And it would have been over a hundred, had I caught the train to Beijing

The next leg of our trip was a train ride from Beijing to Xian, the fast train this time, and only 9 hours. Newer and more luxurious than the trains through the rest of China, this one has individual seats that recline, are soft and

Beijing is a marvelous city, there is an unending stream of things to see and places to be. It all costs a bit more than in the smaller cities around China, but then it is a modern first world metropolis of the first degree. Chengdu to

Day1 All set from the previous days walk, I woke at around 08:30, packed my bags, and went downstairs to check out and meet with our new friends (we had met a Canadian couple the night before and were going to hike with them). leaving

Chengdu to Emei Shan this time, to go and climb another mountain. I am starting to feel the amount of time spent on transport in China. Everything is so far away that to see anything you really have to be prepared to travel, a lot.

We have been in Cheng Du for about 3 days now, and it is fair to say we have not done very much. There are a few things to do around here, but most are trips to surrounding areas and take a few days themselves.

The valley is lost somewhere in the dirt clouds thrown up by our bus and its drivers erratic acceleration. A new curve exposes a town not entirely void of character, but seemingly so after the valleys effect on me. The houses and shops become more

I wake from a restless sleep, my eyes struggling to cope with the prospect of  leaving their dark world. The alarm buzzes again, I ignore it for a few seconds before succumbing to the irritation. At first a dream noise, it slowy brings me into

The train shudders to a halt, early morning intrudes on a restless sleep, and the call to wake throws my senses into a dream soup of screeching voices and clambering bodies. Apparently the screeching means “Dali! everyone off!”, and three bunk high beds are tussled about

Before I get started on the moral ambiguity that is the Dwarves Empire, I shall enlighten you as to how we found ourselves there on this most peculiar of days, and what we found when we arrived.

After the disappointment of Shenzhen I was well and truly looking forward to finding something more authentic, it seemed like Nanning (and ultimately Kunming) in Yunnan might be that place. So with ridiculously little planning we headed off to catch the train to Guangzhou, and

Shenzhen, China, it’s like Hong Kong, but less. I have been looking forward to China with a mix of excitement and anxiety. I have always wanted to go and explore the place, meet the people, try the strange foods and generally be whipped out of