The train and metro system is easy to navigate

There is some really beautiful scenery, especially the Great Wall

You can get cheap electronics, but only if you know what you're doing. We didn't.

In Chengdu and Shanghai there were a lot of huge unfinished shopping centres. It was very strange. You'd walk through a shop and end up at a big wooden divider, behind which there'd be a corridor with a load of scaffolding. Why open in the first place? Dan observed that it's like when you play an old computer game and accidentally wander off the map and it's all jaggedy edges everywhere.

It's pretty easy to get Western food but if you eat McDonalds all the time you're not going to feel great

The general demeanour is a bit abrasive and it takes a while to understand it isn't rudeness.

There are no rules regarding traffic. Cars weave in and out between any gaps they can find and stop within an inch of each other. I assume taxi drivers are former rally drivers. It's a real skill. The green man on a pedestrian crossing means "cross at your own peril". Cars will avoid hitting you, but they won't avoid crossing the road

We had to take a few flights between Ireland and Japan and noticed that as soon as the plane lands, everyone piles out into the aisle, even if it's going to be taxi-ing to the gate for the next 20 minutes. I can't see any logic behind this, no matter how many times I see it.

There is no concept of queuing. Instead of queuing you simply push as hard as you can to get to your destination first

Pandas were everything I had hoped

Beijing was my favourite

It's possible to get sick of temples