The sing-off

Our trip down the Yangtze River through the 3 Gorges, was definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far. Though the water was a horrible brown colour and full of debris, the scenery was absolutely stunning. Hill after hill, there was so much greenery- the natural shape of the landscape was incredible. Occasionally we'd come across little hamlets stuck on the steep slopes, and the only way to reach them is by boat. We'd definitely recommend it to anyone coming to China.

After taking in our fair share of Vitamin D on the deck of the Princess, we drifted in to the bar for some Kara...OK in the evening.

The Chinese take this quite seriously and they have less inhibitions than the Brits so it doesn't take them several beers before they give it a go. Bang on 8pm the first song started. Our tour guide put her best foot forward and showed us how its done. Then came several more Chinese songs by the Chinese and finally one of the 2 mics found its way in to the group's hands. Our first efforts are pretty lame in comparison, but the Chinese cheer in good humour nonetheless, perhaps in pity at our sorry efforts!

Eventually the group rallies round and the Colombians get us in to the Macarena- to which we all partake in the obligatory dance routine. This goes down well and some of our braver Chinese contestants try to join in... but they just couldn't match us- there were some very comical attempts to join in. Another one of the lads from the group and I were rewarded with a warm tin of below strength Tsing Tao which had to be downed in one. Not nice!

All in all, it was a strange but humbling experience, it seemed regardless of how well the Chinese sang (and there was some terrible singing) they all got a massive round of applause from everyone in the bar. And by the end of it we came away with a sense that the Chinese aren't just fiercely practical, they know how to let their hair down in unique fashion.

Early start in the morning... there are definitely some sore heads amongst the Chinese, and we have an epic day of travelling ahead of us.

We'll be taking the bus from Zigong to Yichang, then another bus to get to the train station. Where we get the bullet train from Yichang to Wuhan, then finally this evening we'll get the over night train from Wuhan to Guilin. In the morning we'll catch another bus and eventually reach our destination Yangshuo tomorrow afternoon.