Dear diary ...So yes we have crossed the border into mainland china and have discovered a few problems with communication - not just that we don't speak the language but that there is a national block on facebook and blogs so this post is coming to you via copy and paste from an email to mum! So sorry there are no pictures and im not exactly sure where trist finished up in the last post but I'll start with crossing into china but il try and keep it brief because we have packed a fair bit in.So with packs on our backs we caught a subway for 2 hours consisting of 4 different trains and not enough space to take off our bags so stood the whole way. With tired shoulders we cleared immigration in Shenzhen and found a cafe we had been told to check out to catch our breath. Next we took our lives into our hands and headed into another train station which had the whole population of Levin in it to buy an overnight train ticket to Guilin. Nobody spoke English so after 4 20 min queues for 4 different ticket booths and a lot of sign language we managed to get it sorted!We waited 5 hours people watching in the sun outside the station (first blue sky since leaving home) then got onto our 'hardsleeper' carriage and up onto the third bunk (in very close proximity with the roof) - this is where we stayed for 13 hours!In Guilin we booked into a great hostel with English speaking hosts (yay). Just our luck the rainy season has come early this year so in between the downpoors we have been on some great adventures. Highlights being the twinlakes with teahouses, twin pagodas and an incredible hill we climbed to check out the flooded river (Now lapping at the edge of the hill) and a budda cave beneath. Tristans highlight was the underground market that was so big I was too exhausted to see all the shops!We are doing our best to keep up with taking as many photos as the locals seem to take so hope to post some soon. We are here for a couple more days before flying to Chengdu in search of the panda.McDuffMichele and Tristan