We took the cab up to Meiling Road tunnel, hopped out there and after a deep breath or two, headed up hill, muttering something like “tunnels are built for good reason”. Its a steep climb, but thankfully for this heavy smoker, not too long. It is also paved, so for you guys looking for the real outback, you might have ot go a little further afield. Maybe 20 minutes or so. Cresting the top is probably worth the effort; it is the ridge dividing Longjin Village from Meijiawu.

At this point you wanderer, you have a choice – the steep climb down into Longjin, or a short walk along the top of the hill, and the steep climb down into Xiaoyawu (小牙坞), or a slightly longer walk along the top and down into Meijiawu. Been to Longjin a lot of times, so headed off towards Xiaoyawu.

Frankly, it was a little bit of a disappointment. We followed the signs right off the main path and the steps fell off steeply; so far so good. But the din from below was getting louder and louder, a football match out here??? Unlikely. More likely it was a bunch of people who cannot enjoy the quiet. Sure enough, a beautiful quiet sunny Sunday afternoon wrecked by people who are unable to enjoy themselves without screaming, shouting, spitting and generally behaving like the spoilt inconsiderate wankers the Chinese seem to insist on being in front of people they do not know.

So on to Meijiawu, leaving behind that insensible din.

I have been to Meijiawu many times and always enjoy it. The same little restaurant is still there, never changing. The father daughter duo still serving up delicious local grub. They have a menu now, but that helps little – the best thing to do is ask what she has that’s special today. The baiqieji was still warm, the pumpkin leaves cooked just enough to leave a little crunch. Of course, in Meijiawu the local specialty is the ‘local chicken’ soup, but I have always found that ‘local chicken’ is a euphemism for serving up an undernourished over exercised and therefore chewy as bootleather wrinkly old granny of bird. Avoid, in my view.

Tea was delicious, the little stream floating past must be good for something, and by 4 o’clock we were waiting for the Y4 bus to drag our lazy asses back to the big smoke.