Sussex backpacker Shirine Harburn had no time to defend herself from a frenzied knife attack in China, an inquest has heard.

The hearing in Crawley was told that Miss Harburn, 30, of Lydon House, Dobson Road, Crawley, died from multiple stab wounds to her chest.

There were no injuries to suggest she had tried to fight off her killer.

Miss Harburn's body was found by a tourist on Paeomao Mountain, in the western Sichuan province of Chinaon May 11 2000.

West Sussex coroner Roger Stone adjourned the inquest for two months after hearing Sussex Police were negotiating an informal visit to China to get more information.

Detective Inspector Steve Johns said they had no authority to investigate the murder.

He said: "We are making an offer for an informal visit with a view to finding out what happened to Shirine. It would be an information gathering exercise."

Her mother Sheila, of The Glebe, Furnace, Green, said Miss Harburn had gone backpacking to China with her boyfriend, Colin Horsfield, after they met at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999.

The couple made plans for their trip that Christmas and Colin had set off first. Her daughter left England on January 2, 2000, and met her boyfriend in Thailand.

She said her daughter kept in regular touch by email and was enjoying the trip. She had not felt any concerns for her welfare.

The Foreign Office told her on May 10 that her daughter was missing.

The following day she was told her body had been found and the Chinese authorities were investigating her death as a murder.

Mrs Harburn said: "Shirine was a healthy girl and had travelled a lot.

"She had a zest for life and was very adventurous, even as a small child. When she was 11 she climbed a mountain in South East Asia."

She said Miss Harburn, an office administrator with First Choice travel firm in Crawley, had been born in Tehran.

She attended school in Caterham and took a foundation course at Farnham, Surrey, where she obtained a diploma which included photography.

Her boyfriend, who attended the hearing, did not give evidence. Earlier reports suggested that he lost her while they were in the area where her body was found.

The family's solicitor, Stephen Simblet, made a successful application for his evidence to be heard at the full hearing on January 28 after police have visited China.

Mr Stone offered condolences to the family.