Ni hao,

Just got back from China, one of the most exhilirating trips of my life. Visited Shanghai (again), then headed south to Guangxi---Guilin, Yangshuo, Li River, and Longsheng---: The landscape, both man made (as in the terraced rice fields of Longsheng) and natural (as in the awesome limestone peaks in and around Guilin and Yangshuo, and most evident along the Li River), is absolutely breathtaking.

From Guangxi I visited Xi'an (again); and ended my tour in Beijing where I spent 8 of the most joyous days I can ever remember.

It will take about 6 months for me to trawl through the almost 2,500 photos I brought back. (That's me up there again in Tian'anmen Square on 26/2/12, a few days before the National Peoples' Congress opened. In anticipation, the authorities were closing off the Square at 7pm each night to enhance security!)

What a wonderful country China is; and what a wonderful people the Chinese are. I am already planning my next trip, perhaps a short one in September 2012, but definitely another long one in 2013.

Cheers and zai jian, Fred