Now in Xian, Shaanxi province, the cradle of Chinese civilization (travelguidechina.com), lots of history to sightsee. There's an ancient 15km wall encompassing the 'inner' city, modern & old intermingled. More populated now as we head east, hopefully will be quieter heading south, hear good things about the route to Chengdu. More...

Hello Brocolli, Bye Bye Blamange

Now in Zhangye (chinats.com), another luxury hotel, it's all getting too easy like a holiday. Marco Polo spent a whole year here, so thought we'd splash and stay 3 nights. More...

The word desert will henceforth be renamed to blamange, or any other after dinner sweet, time for something new and less desert. It's my way of coping. Err, carrot. More...