Enshi Grand Canyon Bit of a cockup on the naming front regarding this mountain crest in central China. There is a canyon, but it is narrow, hardly ‘grand’. Close to the cablecar’s lower station, a path leads down into this fissure, but it is a paultry affair compared with the splendour awaiting at the top. […]

New year, new plan – combine Chinese with spectacle ! London’s Evening Standard newspaper has reported an 81% increase in the number of visitors from China coming to the capital this month compared with twelve months ago. No doubt they’ll all be carrying a smartphone , if not a camera.   When I perform in […]

Nestling in the mountains that straddle the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, Lugu Lake is somewhat off the beaten track. Consequently, it wasn’t until my fifth visit to southwest China that I finally made my way there. According to Wikipedia, following an illicit meeting between a promiscuous goddess and a god,

  My first venture into Sichuan province involves a series of bus journeys north from Qujing the largest town of eastern Yunnan. Seriously steep and barren mountains, traversed on sub-standard road surfaces, are followed by the spectacular descent down into the Yangtse river valley.   Cross the river into Sichuan, and the road onward runs […]