QUFU 曲阜 - the home and resting place of the great Sage, Confucius. Qufu, from what I saw was certainly not what I expected. It was a simple little old Chinese village so I was pleasantly surprised. I love little towns like this. You'll need a bit of Chinese to keep off the hawkers.

It's all about 孔子 so if you have any interest whatever in Confucius, it is a must-do two-day trip and worth it.

TAI'AN 泰安 - What GREAT PEOPLE! I don't imagine too many foreigners get out here. After all, it's a major Chinese tourist destination. I only saw 3 foreigners and I was the only one at the 2007 Tai'an Beer Festival. It goes without saying that if there is a beer-fest on then I'll sniff it out. I would like to thank Xuejun for the warmest of welcomes.

The second night I met up with him and his friends (plus others), I found myself on stage singing 'Yue liang dai biao wo de xin (The moon represents my heart) in front of 200 Tai'an people!

If there wasn't a beer-fest, I witnessed no other decent night-life and after talking to a taxi driver, apparently there isn't any. That said, unless you're rather fit or rather stupid the last thing you'll want to do is go out on the lash before climbing Mt. Tai!

TAI SHAN 泰山- What a climb! You set-off full of vitality and you don't even notice your backpack - take plenty of water or whatever else you need because the higher you climb the steeper the prices! After an hour you'll hit a sign that says The Climb Starts Here and you'll be wishing you'd never even started it, especially when you look towards the Heavens and squint to see the peak!

You'll take heart of the fact that you a being passed by people descending who look remarkably fresh. Don't be fooled, they didn't climb up, they took the cable-car (lanchē 缆车）. I pushed myself and made it to the top in stupid time. Members of my party arrived eighty minutes later along with the main crowds. It was mayhem at the peak. It is said that on May-Day of 2001, some 60,000 people stood atop Tai Shan! I'd guess on this day there were a couple of thousand and it was a nightmare.

Adjacent to the peak is a lesser-known mount, Wang Fu. You wouldn't even know it but for a small pagoda-type structure. It was 'vacant' so I meandered over. Just me, brilliant views and some degree of the tranquility normally associated with mountain peaks.

It was whilst I was sitting here and have a beer and eating my packed-lunch that I discovered the secret of the original workers who built all that surrounded me.. 'Mary Jane' or Marijuana to those, like me, less familiar with it. It was all-over the place.

Going down was only slightly less difficult than the ascent. I toyed with the idea of taking the cable-car but quickly dismissed the thought.