Travelling overland through China in 2002, I learned of the construction of the railway to Lhasa and determined that I would take that train. Construction delays and political upheavals prevented that me making that journey until 2014. The mountain in question is, of course, Everest a must see on any journey to Tibet. Though the railway does not itself go there, journey from Nepal took in the North base camp, and continued to Lhasa where I boarded the train. Two days later, having crossed the highest railway pass in the world, I arrived at Chengdu, with its Giant Pandas, continuing by train through southern China to Hong Kong. Again, history, geography, nature and politics feature in the talk.