A china summary

Things we liked about China:

1. The metro is cheap - in fact everything is cheap.

2. Some of the most amazing sights in the world - particularly the Wall.

3. Incredible acrobats

Things we didn't like:

1. Staring
2. Spitting
3. Snorting
4. Phlegming
5. Pushing/general rudeness
6. Pointing and laughing
7. Photographing and videoing
8. Being hassled
9. Internet Censorship
10. Dirt
11. Squatties and lack of toilet roll - amazing that China invented both the flush toilet and toilet roll (QI said so), and yet fail to use either. 
12. Mixed sex compartments on sleeper trains
13. Crossing the road - or 'china's greatest death trap' as Cat calls it.  In England, when you see a red light you stop and when you see a green one you go.  In China, you ignore the lights completely and drive wherever and whenever you want (regardless of whether there are people, bikes, cars, small dogs, etc. in the road).  We were debating whether the Chinese are just red-green colour blind but actually they just seem to like ignoring any road instructions given to them.  They beep continuously (despite the fact you're only trying to cross because the green man has lit up - which to us means it's safe to walk now) and we were told by our friend Janet that the lights are actually 'just for reference' (she's from Taiwan and finds it just as mental in China as we do).  So bad is there refusal to comply with lights that we spotted 12 policement directing traffic at one intersection which already had lights and crossings that would have been perfectly adequate in any other country.  We recommend a full suit of body armour and flashing lights before attempting to make your way across - clearly though, do not wear anything with red or green as they clearly have no regard for this.
Travel wisdom acquired in week 2:


We covered this before, but in China it was even more obvious that we had no where near enough clothes.  I wore my pyjama bottoms, shorts and trousers, as well as 2 shirts a fleece and a coat all the time - which was basically everything I own apart from beach clothes.  That made washing a little difficult too.  At least you don't sweat much in -5 degrees.