I met a girl in Beijing in the Summer holidays called Irina, well she has been travelling through Mongolia and has finally made her way to the south of China and popped in to pay us a visit. I took her to Ding Hu Mountain.

Ever heard of it, it's another one of those "world famous" places in China. My new Chinese friend Kitty came along as our guide and we had a fantastic time. Ding Hu mountain is a buddhist mountain and all the way up the mountain are little temples, streams and waterfalls and it wouldn't be China without pagodas. Kitty was a great guide explaining every nook and cranny along the way.

My favourite places were yin yuan shu or lovers tree. People tie a red woollen string around a tree which is actually 2 trees which have joined together. The red symbolises happiness and luck and by tying it around the tree you are wishing for longevity in your relationship. It is unlucky to do this if you are single or if you are not in the company of your partner, I didn't particpate as Trev was working so I'll give it a go next time.

At the top of the mountain is a large Temple, it's functioning with monks everywhere and it is called "Qing Yun" temple or happy cloud temple, I imagine at different times of the year it would be in the clouds.

And finally there is a park called "bao ding yuan" or precious 3 legged pot park. In the park there are massive bronze pots used to hold incense sticks normally in temples. In this particular park they are really just on display but there is one huge pot in the centre of the park where you can wish for the future. You buy a wishing note, it is written on red silk like a scarf, and the scarf is wrapped around something similiar to a squash ball. The idea is you throw the ball complete with wishing scarf into the pot. The pot is about 10m high. I wished for prosperity in the future, basically the writing was translated to many kids and much money. Kitty was showing me that I had to throw my wish underhand. By the 6th time when I was certain I had buggered my wish before I'd even started, I took a different approach and tried a cricket bowler style of throw and my ball and wish went straight in - the crowd which had gathered cheered me loudly and all confirmed my wish was still valid even after bouncing around the ground.