Planes, trains and buses... (what do you call a Chinese tuk tuk??)

Well the cheap flights from Xining are early in the morning.. but you must be over 55 to book!! No matter how you try their booking system, I could book only my father and kids, but not me!! We are trying to kindly ask permission that I can join (likely at a higher fee), or otherwise I will have to take another flight leaves sames time but stops over in Xian for 50 minutes. Which would mean a number of hours of my father with kids - so long as he is healthy that is OK.... don't like it but these are not cheap flights given the distance. Grandpa is thinking it would be cool to fund a yak but they cost around $400. We have asked for some photos of 2 girls to fundraise for, but it turns out they currently only have pics of girls from other areas. My girls are growing like weeds as they say. The younger one will go to kinder again next year. She goes to an amazing kindergarten based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy. She is starting to read letters and can pick up a word or two, and learnt to tell the time on the hour the other day. Another year at kinder would make her super confident for school. We are getting really excited about the forthcoming trip.. looking into the things we can do. In Xian we will simply transit so we can enjoy the view from the train window during more daylight out West. In Shanghai there is now a modern looking gondola (like chair lifts) on a rail line that seems to go through a tunnel, under the river at the Bund, with flashing lights etc. Apparently it is very short and tacky, but only in China: http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g308272-d311578-Reviews-Bund_Sightseeing_Tunnel-Shanghai.html