Mandefu meal
Luoyang
October 7 2001

OK, so eventually Nigel broke down too. After days of less than perfect intestinal health I had to eat something familiar but at least I tried to eat something a LITTLE bit different - Mandefu is what you get when McDonalds and KFC get together and have a love child. Only not quite as weird.

Neon corner
Chengdu, Sichuan Province
October 13 2001

We had been walking, half lost in the dark back alleys of Chengdu when we came upon this bright corner. It reminds me of a famous picture - let me know if you know what I'm talking about. It turned out that this was the restaurant we had eaten at half an hour earlier - we just didn't recognize it from this angle.

Rice potties on the paddy
Zhaoxing, Guizhou province. China
October 31 2001

We were amazed at the efficiency of Chinese farming life. Their potty stalls are built on top of their rice paddies providing fresh fertilizer daily. Catfish often swim in the paddies and chow down on the effluence. They themselves are eventually eaten. Thus ultimately returned to where they began. Ahhh, the cycle of life, truly wonderful to behold when you're on top.

Chinese sleeper car
Kunming to Kaili, China
October 28 2001

For better or worse train travel is one of the most memorable and insightful ways to travel about a country. Pictured here - Julie in the top berth of a hard sleeper carriage. We always tried to book the top berth for the privacy it offered. That it is also the cheapest bed certainly didn't hurt.

Bad picture. Great name
Chengdu, Sichuan Province
October 13 2001

Is this a Sapporo product? We didn't look beyond the fact that we had our name in lights. Well, we had our name on a dimly lit billboard anyway. Snow Beer can be relied on to provide a Snow Quality good time!!*

*we are in no way affiliated with Snow beer (unless liver damage counts).

Squat toilet
October 12 2001

Fairly typical of the typical toilet in China. This one is near the top of the range in cleanliness and that it has water flowing through it. Some are merely a hole in the ground. This particular specimen has one further delightful distinction. It was found aboard a fast moving and abruptly rolling hydrofoil on the Yangtse river. Together with the wet slippery tile it made for quite a challenge.

Nigel still enjoying the ride
Guizhou, China
October 31 2001

Riding in the bed of a motorcycle-truck was initially quite fun. That is until the combination of primitive roads and no shocks began to rearrange my internal organs. Alas there is no alternative but the old dogs for some areas of Guizhou province.

Watching the world go by
Li River near Xingping
November 6 2001

A vacation from a vacation, that is what Julie calls it. I feel too guilty, so I call it research for the website.

Classics wedding photo
Luoyang
October 7 2001

A surprising craze we haven't had the opportunity to ask anyone about is the wedding photos shops. All over China, late into the night, we have seen these boutiques preening and fluffing lovely young ladies for pictures. Barely a groom in sight mind you. The rare birds pictured here were not dressing in what what seems to be the latest thing - western style white wedding dresses.

They always come in three
Quingwang Temple, Chengdu
October 14, 2001

Whenever we see these photogenic old ladies, they always seem to come in threes. The woman in the center is a Taoist nun, and also appears to be the leader of the pack.

View over Yangtze river
October 10 2001

If this view appeals, book your mystic voyage to this far of Eden here!

Wushan bathroom
October 10 2001

this tasteless bathroom has a tasteless tale