In June 2000 I made a journey to China. I was travelling with an Australian company called Intrepid Small Group Adventures, and the trip I was making was a roundtrip they call ”Essence of China”. The trip started in Beijing and ended up in Hong Kong, and along the way we got to see some of the major Chinese attractions.

With basis in the travel diary that I wrote and the pictures that I took, I have put together this travelogue. I have divided the travelogue into chapters, mainly based on the day-to-day itinerary of the trip: 

Preparations and Expectations
DAY 1 - BEIJING: Arrival
DAY 2 - BEIJING: The Great Wall 
DAY 3 - BEIJING: Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square 
DAY 4 - BEIJING: Summer Palace
DAY 5 – XI’AN: Exploring the city
DAY 6 – XI’AN: Terracotta Warriors
DAY 7 – XI’AN: Tai Chi in the Park, trip to Chengdu
DAY 8 - CHENGDU: Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
DAY 9 - EMEISHAN: Leshan and the Giant Buddha, arrival Baoguo
DAY 10 - EMEISHAN: Hike in the mountains
DAY 11 - EMEISHAN: Hike in the mountains, return to Baoguo
DAY 12 - CHONGQING
DAY 13 – YANGTZE RIVER TRIP
DAY 14 – YANGTZE RIVER TRIP: The Three Gorges, Shennong Stream
DAY 15 - YICHANG: The Three Gorges Dam
DAY 16 - YANGSHUO: Arrival
DAY 17 - YANGSHUO: Bike ride/limestone scenery
DAY 18 - YANGSHUO: Moon Hill
DAY 19 - YANGSHUO: Overnight train to Guangzhou
DAY 20 – HONG KONG: Kowloon
DAY 21 – HONG KONG: Hong Kong Island
DAY 22 - HONG KONG: Departure, thoughts on the way home

Some of the factual information given I have taken from Lonely Planets Guide to China, some have been provided by Intrepid and some I have picked up along the way. 

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