(Pyongyang, North Korea, 18 April, 2012)

We visited one of the flim studios.

(North Korea, 17 April, 2012)

The Americans and a few Europeans who chose to leave early were taken to the airport before we continued on to the International Friendship Exhibition. We visited this very large facility embedded in Myohyang-san mountain. It houses the state gifts to the leaders of the country which have been put on display as a contribution to the public.

The complex contains two buildings which give meaning to the word grandeur. They both had magnificent doors throughout.

The first one we visited appeared to be at least 150 x 300 metres on the main floor where we were shown some of the collections grouped by country. It is magnificently constructed of marble walls and granite floors throughout. On an upper floor is a souvenir shop and a balcony at the front looking out into the beautiful valley with nearby mountain peaks. On the balcony overlooking the valley I was asked to write my comments on the facility and while writing my picture was taken. After they read what I had written it was translated into Korean and I was told it would be kept along with the picture among the articles in the museum.

I don't know if the second building is as large as the first but it was large. The walls were painted plaster. In one of the rooms were cars that were given by the Soviet Union from 1950 - 1953. The earliest had a bulletproof passenger compartment with 5 cm thick windows. In another were two railway cars given to Kim Il Sung - one from the USSR and one from China.

(Beijing, China, 8 - 10 April, 2012)

Arrived safely by train T66 in Beijing to meet with the Korean Friendship Association delegation for the trip to the DPRK.

The delegates appear to be an interesting variety of people of all ages from many countries.

The officials are very nice.

The weather is fine.

Walked a bit much Monday; my feet hurt.

(Kunshan, Jiangsu, China, 30 March, 2012)

Attended the 2012 China International Import Expo. The best part of the trip was the conversation with a woman on the bus who was interested in learning English and kept me in conversation much of the time. The lunch provided was also very good. The whole experience was as struggle as I came down with a case of the flu.

(Shanghai, China, 24, 25 March, 2012)

I arrived safely in Shanghai 24 March and spent a good Sunday in conversation with a few people at English corner in People's Park. Some past acquaintances were renewed and some new ones created.

A friendly man named Johnny was a highlight of the day, as was a short conversation with an 81 year old doctor.

Took train G7080 to Nanjing.

This is my personal project since 2005 developed as a service to travellers in China.

The China railway passenger train timetables have been updated with 3887 timetables and 2589 stations as of 15 February, 2011 for viewing with Google Earth and Earth API in browsers. I continue to update the data as I become aware of changes.