Conclusion

So in 14 days the group had managed to visit 32 parks and I came away with 62 new coasters added to my count. I'd also managed to experience a lot of what China had to offer both in the main touristy places and a little off the beaten track.

The humidity was a challenge to all of the group, it was certainly the worst I'd ever encountered. Even drinking as much water as we were it was never enough. Something to bear in mind the next time I come out here. A slight comfort was that the locals were feeling it too, the downside however is that their willingness to do their work (run rides etc) suffers.

China at the moment is extremely cheap, especially travel, which is a fraction of what we pay back home. I'm not sure I fully understood the Chinese social mentality, it's a lot more complicated than we have here, and whereas I was expecting a social structure similar to Japan or Korea where people are civil to each other, I got something totally different, where putting yourself in front of others is common place and there is little regard for the implication of a person's behaviours on others (examples would be people just spitting without looking where they're aiming, or the guy who wanted to know the time and looked closely at the watch of one of our group...whilst he was at a urinal).

If you're interested in China's history then Beijing is the city to visit. If you're interested in where the country is headed then Shanghai, particularly the Pudong district is the place to go.

China is becoming Westernised and KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut have invaded and are well established, especially in the main cities; perfect for those whose adventuring doesn't go as far as what they put into their mouths. However the best meal of my trip was spent in Qinghuangdao sat on impromptu crates made from beer crates and eating into a selection of cooked meats that I couldn't name but which tasted great.

Whilst English signs do exist, a guide is recommended to help with the language. To help us with our trip we used On The Go. A company with an established record of trips in Egypt and that had expanded into China following the Olympics. This company is highly rated with an excellent guide who went above and beyond what we'd asked for and in putting the trip together the company were able to meet our, admittedly unique, requirements very well indeed.

We will be heading back to China in 2012 and I'm sure we'll use On The Go again.

Our taxi driver in Beijing was a brilliant guy called John available at beijing-driver.com . He was recommended to us by friends and without fail I would recommend him too to others (which is exactly what I'm doing here).

A final thanks should be given to Yvonne whose idea it was to put the trip together, and who was flexible enough to allow me the bandwidth to squeeze more coaster opportunities into an already tight itinerary.