The Arctic Ocean Hotel Yangquan

... walk around it, looking for entry. This where the obvious became, well, obvious: the wall was meant to keep people OUT. Ha! Couldn't help but giggle. Ancient marauders probably didn't giggle, though. They were more concerned with death.

Eventually, we gain entry through the South Gate (again, no ticket takers), and our self-guided wall tour began.

On our way back to the hostel, we note a traffic jam. All ...

... recently dumped on little Pingyao, virtually none of the locations we visited were staffed. Thus, no-one was around to stamp our tickets. Thus, no-one was around to ensure that visitors were not playing with the displays. Bear that in mind when you view the pictures.

Lastly, in an unassuming matchbook store, we encountered these:

The store clerk commented that "Hitler was not so good." But he sells ...

... complete, the clerk promptly closes her window for the day...which is *exactly* the moment my fledgling Chinese reading skills kick in and I notice that our tickets are for the wrong berths. Dennis immediately flags the clerk, who slides her window open to talk to him and then closes TWO windows to discuss our request extensively with another staff member. Egad. Thirty minutes later, our transaction is complete ...

... is the heart of China's coal belt. Back alleys are littered with piles of the black rock, and the city is dotted with fuming smoke stacks. But what I notice most is the smell. It's in the air here and there's no escaping it. I find myself coughing, snorting and spitting like the locals, my eyes stinging and my head throbbing. We are blessed in B.C. to be supplied entirely by hydro power! But I'm sure this exposure is good for me...not physically, obviously, but something. It better be.

Wutaishan was one of our greatest disasters to date.Hee and there's been a few. I booked a hostel which gave directions to Wutaishan bus station but was in fact in Nanning- a whole other provence. Oops.
Pretty place, once we'd finally checked into somewhere in our price range. It was the coldest place I've ever been. The water in the river had frozen solid! We had pot noodles in bed and tried some rice wine, (evil smelling stuff) and quickly got on a bus out of there!
Love Lucy xxx

... br>We had nice calm time here, eating, cycling and playing table football in the hostel! The girls working in the hostel were a bit odd but other than that we had a lovely stay! Oh and they managed to turn a few of our white tops pink!
We got the bus to Wutaishan ...

... strange events as the bus driver began to drive again!

Five minutes up the road from where we had parked for the night, we turned into a bus station. Final destination! We were there in Taiyuan!! We had spent the night parked just metres from where we had wanted to be all along!! AArg!! Lost in translation!! The crew had a grand ole laugh at my confused and angry questioning!! Free nights accomodation all the same!

Love ye lots
Lucy and Adele! xxx

... close to hitting them. Still, I was willing to try it because I've not biked in a while and it seemed pretty stupid to get a taxi out to there. It actually wasn't bad--even though the drivers may not give bikers plenty of berth, at least they are aware that people do actually bike on the road, unlike in my home country. After getting out of the crowded old part of Pingyao, we found that the road we wanted to take was under construction. In true Chinese fashion, however, it ...

... we know why the stars hate paparazzi. We would be sitting in a restaurant and several photographers would have their big lenses plastered against the window to take pictures of us. Go figure. Jackson got tired of it and wanted to start charging. Not much to say at this point. I'm in Hanoi Vietnam so Pingyao is fading ........... Enjoy a few pictures

In Mandarin, "he" means "river" and "bei" means "north." True to its name, Hebei province lies north of the Yellow River. It also cradles Beijing. At some point in the wee morning hours, just as the sun was peeking at us over the horizon, I awoke and watched a somewhat rural landscape become urban become the sprawling megapolis of Beijing.