Yangshuo is China’s premiere rock climbing destination; a region gifted with a multitude of limestone cliffs that offer climbing at all grades. The region is off the tourist route for Westerners and more a holiday destination for the Chinese and also European dirtbag crag monkeys. As we headed down towards the tropics, the weather stabilised,…

It has taken almost two weeks to not feel overwhelmed by the alien systems here; to not get shafted by inconsistent prices including the inevitable ‘tourist tax’, to consider the incessant surveillance a comfort rather than a threat, and to take advantage of the order and efficiency when there is so much chaos. Firstly, the…

Northern China is experiencing its fair share of rainfall this week, and this morning’s trip up Tianeman Mountain (‘Heaven’s Gate’ Mountain) was, by all accounts, a bit of a washout. Rainfall is higher than average for this time of year. It is lucky then that there is a vendor selling shoe sheaths and plastic raincoats…

After the intensity of visiting two of northern China’s mega-cities (exceeding 10 million inhabitants), we were elated to find ourselves back in our natural habitat. We breathed a sigh of relief as we drove up the mountains, surrounded by vegetation, altitude, and our kindred primate spirits. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a national treasure, hosting almost…

Our travels continued down to Zhangjiajie (pronounced Jang-jar-juh) to visit a world-famous national park that you may recognise from the Avatar franchise. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is comprised of dense forests, deep ravines and canyons, unusual peaks, caves, and pillar-like formations. More on that later! To avoid a 12-hour multi-public transport challenge, we flew straight…

Huashan is one of China’s five great Taoist mountains. Her five granite peaks were formed by huge granite intrusions (volcanic activity) about 100 to 220 million years ago, with the tallest peak reaching over 2000m. We spent the day summitting all of the peaks and exploring the temples, which incredibly were built on precipitous and…

Xi’an is one of China’s oldest cities with a history spanning over 3,000 years. The city was the eastern starting point of the Silk Road, served as the Chinese capital for 13 dynasties, and is also famous for being the location of the Terracotta Army.  The city walls, which started construction in 194BC and were reconstructed in their present…

I’m not sure if we have been this excited since our wedding day. Today, we were going on a BULLET TRAIN. The 1,000km journey to Xi’An would take approximately 11/12 hours in a car. We would be there in just 4 hours. We woke up with a frisson of anticipation, navigating the early morning subway…

On our last day in Beijing we ventured to see the Temple of Heaven, a hall of prayer for good harvest. Originally built in 1420, the temple has been rebuilt 3 times after fire damage as a replica of the original structure. Downtown Beijing was less captivating, in fact, more a futuristic dystopia, where the…

By 8.30am we had entered one of the most enigmatic tourist attractions on the planet; The Forbidden City. This huge complex existed as the central axis of power of China from its beginnings in 1420 until it was turned into a tourist attraction in the early 20th century. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is the…