We've left China, sob :-( After almost exactly a month there I'd really grown to love it. Before we got there I was a little worried. I didn't know what to expect. There is a lot going on in China, especially the politics/censorship etc that's not great to say the least (My blog stats were censored can you believe it! Obviously I'm dangerous...), but day to day at the level we were interacting with the place and the people, it was great. I suppose most people there are just getting on with living their lives and don't really get involved. It's difficult though. We spent some time working in an English school which gave us the opportunity to speak to young Chinese people and even in the short time we spent with them some really interesting issues were coming up. It would be great to spend more time there and really be able to see things from their perspective. The last couple of weeks in China were spent down in the south with a trip to Hong Kong and a couple of it's islands and then a week stay at the English school in Yangshuo. I have to say I think ...

One of the things We've really enjoyed in China is all the different street food. Pretty much everywhere you go there will be people on bikes or carts selling various snacks and simple, cheap food. You should be able to get a tasty lunch for around 20-40p from these street vendors. However there are various skills you will need to master, especially if you don't speak the language, or you will no doubt get ripped off. So here's my guide to what's on offer, and how to pay the real price (or hopefully somewhere near it!). The first thing you need to remember is that 9 times out of 10 if they can get away with it the sellers will try and over charge you. Don't take this as an insult, it's just the way things are. To be honest I don't really blame them. Usually it's the difference to you of paying 50p rather than 20p. They know you can probably afford it, might not know the real price and I imagine a lot of people wouldn't bother to quibble over a few pence, so why not? The money probably makes a lot more difference to them than it does ...

Guangzhou fish market is no doubt the craziest place I've seen so far on the trip. I don't even think we were there at a busy time and the place was incredibly lively! We stood out a little wandering around in our bright t-shirts gawping at the various tanks of fish and other strange unrecognised creatures and attracted quite a bit of attention. There were groups of young lads who seemed to be hanging from the sides of stalls and stood on mountains of crates who stared and shouted hello as we walked by. My favorite was one guy who had obviously recognised our bewilderment who threw open his arms out wide and yelled "Welcome to Guanzhou" down the alley to us. This market is huge and I would really recommend going for a walk around it, that is so long as you're not the type who doesn't like to upset themselves watching things get killed (perhaps a silly thing to say on a vegetarian blog?!). It's really fascinating. You'll see things you've never seen and get a glimpses of a completely different way of life. I don't eat fish, but I just love places like this. So active, everyone with ...

Actually this is not quite the right translation. What it really says is "Protect the Family". We got this near the top of Tài Shan, the most revered of China's five sacred peaks. The route up has several temples, some of which used to be used for ritual sacrifice. The mountain is of huge spiritual significance to the Chinese and tens of thousands of people climb it every year, in fact it is the most climbed mountain in the world. There are huge calligraphic carvings into the rocks, which apparently are some kind of traditional wisdom, witty phrases, plays on words etc. Shame we couldn't understand any of them! It would be amazing to go with someone who could read and translate some of it. It is said that if you climb the mountain you will live to be 100, we had to do it. The climb up covers 7.5km and the round trip takes around 6 hours (or more if you like to potter/have picnics). Helpfully they decided hundred of years ago to lay the entire route with steps. 6660 of them. Blimey. It is quite a trek! Andy's legs are still in pain over a week on! I shouldn't complain ...

Whilst walking around Beijing I had the first "What am I doing?!" thought. Wandering aimlessly around the streets I suddenly realised I was at the other side of the world seeing things all around me I had never seen before. It was a great sensation. Kind of floating around in the world like a dream. Beijing is amazing, we were there for 7 days, the longest we'd stayed anywhere so far, but even that was no where near enough. You could stay for months and only really scratch the surface. It's kind of hard to really appreciate what's going on in a place like that. We were staying in a hostel in the Hutong. At the moment a lot of these are in the process of being torn down as some are really quite run down and the drive for modernisation is meaning some people don't want these ancient dwellings anymore. Others (including Prince Charles!) are trying to save them. I hope this is successful. They really do have a lot of character, it would be a real shame if they all went. You can happily stroll around for hours. Each street has it's own little buzz about, small shops, restaurants, ...