Woke up around 8.30 this morning, after waking up in the night a few times due to torrential rain and thunderstorms. The lightning was really bright, even through the curtains and my closed eyes. When we got up, however, the rain had stopped and the sun was attempting to get through the scattered clouds. We…
Category: Land-based holidays
Shopping in Shenzhen
Woke up at about 5.00am with a splitting headache and feeling quite nauseous. 🙁 Got up for a drink of water and went back to bed again to try to get back to sleep, but only managed to doze on and off. Woke up again about 7 o’clock and went to the loo, where…
Shanghai, Shaun the Sheep and Shenzhen
It was at 04:00 this morning when the wake-up call blasted in our ears and jolted us from sleep once more. We had 45 minutes to be ready and down in the hotel foyer to collect our “breakfast box” (as the dining room wasn’t open at this unearthly hour) as the bus was due to…
Another Brit in The Wall
We were up again at 7.00 this morning, fed and watered and out of the hotel by 8.30am. As we crossed the road in front of the hotel on our way to the bus, we were accosted by various hawkers selling anything from postcards, fans and sun hats to “Rolex” watches and “Gucci” handbags, all…
British in Beijing
A “lie-in” this morning as our wake-up call wasn’t until 7.00am! We went down for breakfast in the already-crowded dining room and grabbed some food and some coffee before assembling in the hotel lobby for our bus at 8.30am. Off we went into the busy streets of China’s capital, once again marvelling at the apparent…
Terracotta Army and Tea
Once again, the sound of the wakeup alarm shattered the air, and jolted us from sleep. We had another early start and a lot to pack into this day, so we were up, washed and dressed and down at the breakfast table in good time. After fortifying ourselves with a substantial breakfast followed by cups…
Off Again, on a Train and a Plane
Our early-morning wakeup call was even earlier today than yesterday: 06:30 hours, and we had to be ready to leave by 08:00am. Fancy coming away on holiday just to be up earlier than you are when you have to go to work! We had our breakfast, a mixture of Chinese and Western style buffet food,…
Sixty in Shanghai
TREVOR’S 60th BIRTHDAY Our jet-lagged sleep was shattered by a wake-up call at 06:45 hours this morning (!!) as we were due to leave the hotel at 08:15 to board our tour coach for a very full, action-packed day. Today is Trevor’s 60th birthday, and here we were spending it in Shanghai. Certainly a different…
Oh, Why Are We Waiting?
While watching the Skymap I suddenly noticed that, for some strange reason, the destination had changed from Shanghai to Beijing, and the time left had dropped to one and a half hours. Strange, as we aren’t due to visit Beijing until later in the holiday. Just then, one of the flight attendants made an announcement…
A Slow Plane To China
So many destinations, faces going to so many places where the weather is much better and the food is so much cheaper… So state the opening lines of The Motors’ 1978 hit single Airport. An appropriate song as we set off for another holiday, this time to the mysterious Orient, in other words, China. Another…