And here it is, a summary of our China chapter.
Best experiences: Hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge, climbing up and down stairs on the Great Wall of China, learning to play 'wei qi' (the 5 in a row game) while drinking 'lu cha' (green tea) in Shaxi, the old men performing traditional music in Shaxi, mastering chopsticks (finally) and making a chinese friend.
Worst experiences: Arriving in China exhausted amidst a sea of chinese characters and unable to buy a bus ticket or find a place to stay, 3 days of admin sorting out our Japan change of plan, and the smoking, spitting sleeper bus with unscheduled midnight police stop on the way to Lijiang.
Best accomodation: Lijiang Hostel and the Shaxi Cultural Centre
Worst accomodation: The 'caravan' room in Hong Kong (made worse by the fact that it was also the...)
Most expensive room: R330 for The 'caravan' room in Hong Kong
Cheapest room: R61.50 in Dali and at Tea Horse guesthouse on Tiger Leaping Gorge trail
Most useful items in our bags at this time: Ear plugs for noisy rooms and room mates, foldable bowls and sporks, toilet paper in your pocket (no public toilets supply, and most hostels don't either), Chinese phrase pages in our guidebook, and a compass for arriving at night or in cloudy weather and trying to follow the map (while nodding to the guy who is frantically giving you directions in chinese).
And the Least useful items in our bags at this time: Sleeping bags, the hammock we bought in Thailand, and a Lonely Planet guide to Japan (boo hoo).
Cheapest dinner for two: R19.70 in Beijing (with the help of our contact - our chinese friend)
Most expensive dinner for two: R81 in Dali - our indulgent dinner on the dodge, mains, coffee, and dessert all at different resturants!
Celebrity Status: We posed for photograps with unknown chinese people 5 times.
Lonely Planet or Rough Guide? We vote Lonely Planet all the way. There's a reason the Rough Guide is cheaper...more information, more cost.
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