Travel Update

I am now in Shanghai. Arrived here last Saturday. Had to adjust to the big city again! The crowds and the traffic and the sheer size of it!

My friend Seamus arrived on Tuesday from Hong Kong. They h a 23 hour train journey. I don't think he realized just how vast China is! We decided to chill around Shanghai rather than heading off to places outside the city. Started off in good style, getting fairly toasted the first night in his hostel. Their second day was a bit of a write off as a result. We sort of took it handy although Seamus did manage to buy a well-needed pair of shoes. The open-toed sandals were a bit nippy!

We managed to fit a bit more in yesterday with some shopping and a visit to the Jade Buddha Temple. There were some people there walking around with incense sticks praying. Seems a bit pricy when you have to pay 10RMB into a temple just to have a pray! It's hard enough to get people to go to mass in Ireland, never mid charging an entrance fee!

So, my plan is to head to Guangxi province next week. I'm hoping I can get a train ticket from Shanghai to Nanning: a whopping 32 hours train journey! Maybe I'll just fly! The plane ticket price as of today was half the price of the train ticket. The weather should be warmer down there. Then again, it's not too bad here: somewhere of the region of 6 to 10 Celsius during the day.

After Guangxi (Nanning, Guilin, Yangshuo etc), I'm planning to head to Hainan (the self-named Hawaii of China) for the Spring Festival. I may even get some of Yunnan in at the end. Play it by ear.