Wuhan, Shanghai to Shenzen

We spend a day in Wuhan which is a lovely city, very easy to get around and the city centre has a mall thats a no car zone, so its great to just wander and not dodge traffic. Wuhan has a river through the centre and their riverside strip is great for kids with playgrounds, walking paths and plenty to see and do. We take the night train to Shanghai arriving early morning we head into the "bund" along the river. There are hawkers everywhere trying to sell us just about anything.

Shanghai boosts to have more skyscrapers than New York and looking towards the skyline they are probably right. The city lights up at night and is quite a sight particularly along the river, we splurge on a waterfront restaurant and enjoy it all. However the following morning we decide to head to Shenzen for a couple days of shopping before we fly out to Borneo so we take the lunchtime train. We arrive in Shenzen early morning, find a hotel and set off shopping. Now this place is a shoe lovers dream with good quality leather shoes and boots ranging in price from $1.80aud to $8aud. So it really was essential that I stocked up at those prices!!! We also stocked up on nintendo ds games, handbags and sunglasses at bargain prices. We enjoyed Shenzen, found it very relaxing, cheap and fun. There is an indoor ice skating rink in the shopping centre that we tried out. The skies are blue again and the food great. Now its time to farewell China with my shoe loaded backpack and head to Borneo. http://www.byokids.com.au/ ...your family travel gurus

Chengdu, Pandas and all that spice!!!!

We arrived off the night train from Xian with a good dose of coal in our chests from the coal burning heaters they stoked all through the night. We make our way to a hostel and get settled in. We have come to Chengdu particularly to see the Pandas, the massive centre based here is running an extremely successful Panda breeding programme. Will it didnt disappoint, its impossible to not adore these gorgeous animals while you watch them play. The nursery is a must see with tiny babies learning to stand, roll and give the keepers a hard time. The grounds are large, spacious, clean and their is a large interactive information centre great for kids and adults. We spend a few days living on Mcdonalds and Pizza hut in Chengdu as the food in this sichuan province is the spicest and hottest we've ever experienced and dont bother asking for no spice as its likely that they will either refuse or not understand anyway. One lady flatly refused to not spice the kids chicken wings at a roadside stall even though she understood. Made us wonder if thats how they kill the germs?? http://www.byokids.com.au/ ...your family travel gurus