Peninsula Hotel Yichang

... in a country which has not yet developed the notion of non-smoking areas, let alone a smoking ban, and in which it appears that the entire male population over the age of sixteen chain-smokes. It's impossible to escape it and a result, I've developed a persistent itchy, burning throat, watery eyes and irritated sinuses - it's driving me crazy! So Mc Donalds it was!<br><br><br>**STOP PRESS** The dude in at the next ...

... groceries and was sitting outside waiting for anyone else who might still be there to emerge. People in the streets make no secret of staring at you and the kids come right up to you and say hello, just looking at you like some sort of circus freak. Although this city is growing since the rising popularity of the 3 Gorges Dam it is still not a tourist town and I can&#8217;t imagine they see too many westerners, it seems especially ones like me with very blonde hair. We all felt bad ...

... and Rebecca. Mom and I would both use them again if we ever end up in China again. To reach Rebecca directly, you can e-mail her at rebecca@chinahighlights.net)<br><br>Onc e in Yichang, our local guide came on the boat to get us. He got us<br>to the bus station, got our tickets, helped us get McDonalds (the only<br>thing to eat in the station!), and even made sure we were in the right<br>seats! Of to Wuhan we were&#8230;<br><br><br>

... park to sit and watch the river Yangtze go by until we got our ferry. We got to the ferry port and waited, 15 Min's late (which is a life time when you are used to Japan time) The queue started to more, our heart sank as we looked ahead and realized everyone was getting on a bus. Had we booked a bus by mistake? great, ah well, at least we get to move on. The scenery from the bus was fantastic. Mountain like i had never seen before, dripping with ...

Upon arriving in Chongqing, I realized I hadn't researched the city much at all before coming, basing my decision to go there solely on knowing it was a large city and seeing "Chongqing Hot Pot" restaurants everywhere in China. I soon realized that there wasn't quite as much to do as I thought, since one can only eat so many times in one day, and hot pot isn't exactly suited for parties of one. Almost all of the tourism is based on Yangtze River ...

... per sopravvivere), tv e internet, per la modica cifra di 10 euro colazione inclusa. Ormai siamo abituati ai prezzi cinesi, quindi ci sembra un'enormita', ma e' soltanto per una notte e va bene cosi'. Dopo una breve ricerca siamo riusciti a trovare un'agenzia di viaggi che vende i biglietti per le imbarcazioni che risalgono il fiume: a gesti siamo riusciti a farci capire e purtroppo abbiamo scoperto che le crociere ...

... After this wonderful episode of my life we just had one further hour on the bus, which I managed to survive. We got dropped off at our digs for the night, the Hotel Chujiang in Yichang. The hotel is quite basic but met our needs for our one night stay. We ate in the hotel tonight, rice, beef, dumplings etc and then after a supermarket visit we were off to the pub! The pub we chose was called the Tango Bar. Now I don't know if it ...

... but the room was fine and very large with a big double bed. The view wasn't great as it was looking down on some very poor looking old houses. I unpacked and then wanted to head to the train station in order to book a train to Zhangjiajie tomorrow afternoon and I bumped into the Irish couple going back down to reception with their backpacks on in the lift, Turned out that they had be given a triple room instead of a double (well who can blame them after ...

After a smooth flight on a teeny tiny plane we arrived at Yichang airport and were greeted at the airport by our local guide, Mary. It was a 2 hour trip to the Yangtze River but it was entertaining. The driver was crazy. He actually took us up an off ramp coming from a 6 lane freeway. The fact that cars with headlights were coming towards us with blaring their horns didn't tip him off at all! Both Mary and Michael were screaming ...

27/8 Andrew We are stuck in Zhang Jie Jia for one further day as we missed the only train to take us to Yichang. It is annoying, as it is a bit of a nothing city that gets no western tourists. Walking down the road i see a woman chatting with a guy on a motorbike with a live goose under her arm, the poor bird! We see a covered market and decide to have a look at whats on offer. The fresh fruit and veg quickly gives way to the butchers ...