6 . Last summer, after finishing my work in China. I took the trip of a lifetime on the Trans-Siberian Railway (西伯利亚铁路). Leaving Beijing early on a Wednesday morning in July, my wife and I travelled through some awesome (令人惊叹的) countryside before we arrived in Moscow the following Monday.

The first part of the journey took us past the Great Wall and through the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. At the Mongolian border, we had a delay (耽搁) while the wheels were changed because the railway is different.

On our way to the capital, Ulan Bator, we saw herdsmen (牧人) on horseback looking after their cattle. There was a great thunderstorm as we crossed a vast open plain. Later we had a quick tour of Ulan Bator.

Next, the train took us into Siberia. After a stop at Irkutsk, a popular holiday resort (度假胜地), where a tour group left the train, we passed the great Lake Baikal. Later, we saw some lovely wooden houses in pretty and sunny countryside. This surprised us, as we had imagined Siberia as being covered with thick snow.

Over the next few days, we passed through Novosibirsk, Omsk and other cities in the heartlands of the Russian Federation. By now, our body clocks were losing their sense of time. We wanted to sleep and eat at the wrong time!

At last we reached Moscow. We were so tired that we slept for 16 hours that night. The next day we went sightseeing. We saw the Kremlin and some other magnificent (宏伟的) buildings in the Russian capital. Then, all too soon, it was time for us to return to our home in London.