SHANGHAI We started our China trip in Shanghai, a small village 250 years ago now a clean megacity of 25 million. The historical British Concession (Bund), won in the Opium Wars of the 19th century lies west of the Huangpo…
Yangtze River Cruise
YICHANG A two hour flight from Shanghai followed by a two hour bus ride and we arrived at Yichang for our Yangtze River Cruise. It takes the MV Katarina with 264 passengers and 128 crew 4 days to navigate the…
Ciqikou
CIQIKOU Ciqikou was a center of porcelain production during the Ming Dynasty. Today it’s a suburb of Chongqing, retaining old China appearance, hustle and bustle along its cobbled food streets.
Giant Pandas
CHENGDU We made a 5 hour bus ride from Chongqing to Chengdu (pop 14 million). It’s the capital of Sichwan province and a modern, clean leafy city in the Singapore mould, famous for Pandas, hot spicy food and face-changing opera.…
Terracotta Warriors
XIAN Xian has a population of 9 million and another 9 million visitors a year come to see the famous Terracotta Warriors first discovered by a farmer in 1974. This delightful city has a long history – until 800 years…
Beijing
BEIJING We flew from Xian to Beijing, about 2 hours. Beijing has a population of 22 million, almost 5 million cars and a reputation for dreadful pollution, but we were lucky to have blue skies after rain the first night.…