Maple Leaf International Hotel Zhenjiang

... for the day, and the very kind host of a fantastic week in China, and headed back to the train station to journey to our next destination.

Despite arriving at the station an hour before the train was due to depart (an hour we filled with postcard writing and games of ********, under the gaze of curious locals) we only just made it onto the train. Us passengers were only allowed onto the platform five minutes before departure, and with a huge bottle necking effect, hundreds of ...

... famous site in Yangzhou is Shouxihu, known as "Slender West Lake". My local guide told me it is a must-see place, so it is my first stop of the trip.The scenery can give you the best explanation for the name since it is as amazing as the famous West Lake while additionally there are emerald green trees, cherry red lotus, traditional Chinese pavilions,and ...

... t get a very good write-up in the guidebooks but we thought it was stunning and really friendly in a less leery way than Suzhou. The main attraction is the Slender West Lake which is a pretty park. Ge Garden was so lovely - almost as nice as Suzhou's Master of the Garden of Nets!

J'ai cette semaine continuer la visite des alentours de Shanghai, sur la carte on voit à peine le périple mais si vous regardez bien cela fait quand même une amplitude de 700 km du nord au sud. Tout ça pour vous dire qu'une tete d'épingle sur la carte de Chine représente de grandes distances en réalité. Jen'ai eu depuis mon arrivée le 19 mars qu'un jour ou deux de soleil. Ce vendredi était bleu... Et à Yangzhou c'était ...

... me because his chinese name sounds like a plant..which is apparently a REED??? I have no idea..I've learned to just accept whatever they tell me and to play along.) Reed is a friendly enough kid...booksmart and speaks decent english. When we first me at the mine..Mrs. Z came up to me and said "I have a 15 year old son, he speaks english. In 2 months, I want you to come to ZhenJiang and my son will help you with your chinese, and you can help him with his english! You two can be ...

... entry into all of Melbourne's sites and Local Peoples entry into all of the Gold Coast parks. HHhhhmmm, somehow I can never see that one happen! The grounds were crowed and the entrance to the first building was filled with the thick aroma of incense that was being burned by the hundreds of Chinese who were doing their 'North, South, East and West' thing. After leaving the first building the three of ...

... down to rest and woke several hours later when Amigo and her friends called to say hello. She was with her High School friends whom we had gone to stay with. They had gone to Kaifeng to spend the day with her and have dinner at the night market.

How I wish I could have been with them.

After a shower I headed out to find a Net Bar and then headed into check out the night market. It really was awesome! Full of ...

... and its rooms are full of dolls dressed in ancient clothing. The views are mainly of bamboo and trees that cover the Yangzi River and I didn't' think the grounds were that great. There was an old run down Taoist Temple beneath the mountain but it was closed and like I said, run down. The iron pagoda is still on the hill just as you reach the temple. It has of course seen better days and so would you have if you were made during the Tang Dynasty ...

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya, Mate, what a horrible night's sleep I had last night. The guys in the room across from me were yelling and screaming for most of the night whilst playing cards. Well at least I think that's what they were playing. Maybe they were playing other games. Who knows! Anyhow, what ever they were doing ...

... Chinese and then gave us the big thumbs up and a nod. The next day we left Shanghai and arrived in Huangzhou around 4 in the afternoon. We were hungry and had been toting around left over groceries, so Gino decided to make grilled sandwiches for dinner. This idea of making our own food intrigued a number of the hostel staff, and it wasn't long before the chef was out witnessing Gino's mad culinary skills! Our next stop was Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain).....