Oriental Hotel Lanzhou

... her from all the people walking past because it would be a bit harsh if i just blanked her. At several points i just started walking towards people and if they ignored me (obviously i stand out so ignores probably the wrong word) then i'd wait. In the end i thought just don't look up...thats the best way...<br><br>So we met (at last) and it was cool. Her english was better than i remembered but not good enough to hold an entire conversation. This is hard work but worth it...this is what ...

... altitude 3200m, our guide Sarah decided to mind our place in the queue while we sat down and Gwen had a little oxygen. Mistake number one. When Sarah got within 3 bus loads of the front we went to rejoin all hell broke loose one park policeman took extreme offence and a slanging match took place between Sarah, policeman and guide in charge of the group of Chinese teacher tourists where we were to rejoin ...

... we'd encountered walking up it!! This was another serious altitude area (over 4,300m and possibly as high as 4,900m). It had been a great day out, which was good, as I had to return to the police station immediately I returned to Lhasa. Taking up my entire evening, I missed out on a wonderful evening of Tibetan food, dance and music, thanks to the *******s who stole my possessions. Moving on before I'd had the opportunity to see anything of the old part of ...

... made sense of one of the most senseless and stupid songs I've ever heard. Some people say that it's all a load of rubbish and that it is just a normal Christmas Song. Maybe those who question it have never actually read the insane lyrics to this song! Maybe those who question it have also never tried to sing this crazy song. You seriously have a much better chance of singing a Slayer song. They also have some ...

... sacred lake. Being that we are in China, I half-expect a concessions stand at the top. And, being that it is a sacred lake we were hiking up to, I expect a temple of one or both religions at the top of the path when we finally reach the water. Blissfully, the lake itself is nearly untouched. No souvenir stands, no temples. A closed lodge stands behind some trees and a pile of orange lifejackets on a boat ramp soak up the rain. A concrete path ...

The hotel staff had informed us the night before that our buses left at 8.00 in the morning. Ian was going to Xining and myself to Dunhuang. Our taxi driver dropped us off outside a hotel with several buses in the carpark. As it was still bitterly cold we waited in the lobby for signs of movement. When people started arriving we managed to ascertain that although 2 of the buses were going to Dunhuang none were going to Xining, they pointed further down the main ...

... enormous, gelatinous loogies is perfectly acceptable in China. And a good belch is fine as well. And picking your teeth after dinner is a sign of urbane sophistication. But this does not mean that manners are not taken seriously in China. It's just that they are different in China. And so feel free to spit and burp, but do not even think of holding your chopsticks with your left hand. You will be regarded as an ill-mannered rube. So watch your manners in China. But learn them first.

Millions of people in China and overseas observed three minutes silence at 2:28 pm Monday to mourn thousands of people killed in an earthquake which hit the nation's on May 12. It was exactly one week after the devastating 8.0-magnitude tremor hit Wenchuan County and its neighboring areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, claiming 34,073 lives, 3,304 of them died in hospitals as of 12:00 am on Monday. Another 245,108 people were injured Across the country, air ...

I've been in Lanzhou for 3 days and I'm getting ready to leave for Beijing. When I get there, after a 25-hour train ride, I'll have crossed China from west to east overland, no flying at all. I'm totally impressed with myself, but now I'm starting to wonder why I've crossed China but not the US. I'm telling you, I'm turning Chinese. I'm driving across the US when I get back and move to New York, but it just seems weird somehow to have done it ...

... hell out the back. The men wisely decided to use the wide open spaces, while a couple of women used the toilet, but DP led a group of the younger and more sophisticated out into the wilderness, after not being able to get closer than thirty feet to the building before almost gagging from the smell. We have written in detail about Chinese toilets in our 2001 diary (when we spent three months in China), and this trip has confirmed that they are still the worst ...