We spent 2 weeks in July in China. Our route took us to Beijing where we stayed a few days, then we took an overnight train to Chongqing from where we boarded a ferry through the Yangtze River and the 3 Gorges to Yichang. After sleeping there the night we took another train to Shanghai, where we stayed 4 days before returning back to Finland via Beijing. It was quite a route as you can appreciate in the map below (we spent 60 hours in trains).
It was very interesting as an experience, the sights are amazing, generally very safe, the people are usually kind and I thoroughly enjoyed the food. However, we were more than once assaulted by culture shock. China is not renowned for being one of the cleanest places on earth and the crowds, while expected, are not nearly as polite as in Japan or even Mexico. However, as usual, the story is better told in pictures and videos (the rest are found in my Flickr stream as before).
Tiananmen square in the rain
Who comes up with these names?
Temple of Heaven
This little Emperor was ready to take off his picture-perfect disguise.
Inside the Forbidden City
It was extremely foggy when we visited the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. Somehow doesn't surprise me as I had the same luck at the Cristo de Corcovado.
Another view of the foggy Great Wall of China
Imagine my surprise when we went to a restaurant specialising in Peking duck and found out it's eaten almost like a taco.
In East Asia their maps are different. Deal with it 
The standard "soft sleeper" cabins in Chinese trains are quite good. Pity the toilets are an absolute disaster, even in the newest trains. In fact, not only in trains, but pretty much everywhere. Maybe the government should start a nationwide "Be dignified, learn to use a loo" campaign?
Chongqing panorama at night
The Lord of Hell in Fengdu, the ghost city.
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Wait… Shouldn’t the Real Ocean, aka The Pacific, always be in the middle of every map?
;o)
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