Beijing is quite simply massive - walking anywhere takes forever! Shame the taxi drivers are reluctant to pick up tourists. Even when they do stop you often have to give them directions - that includes the major tourist attractions.

Huge parts of the city resemble a building site as work for the 2008 Olympic Games is in full swing. We did mange to get a glimpse of the stadium which is very impressive and resembles a 'birds nest'.

We visited the usual sights, namely, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, Summer Palace and the Temple of Haven. The highlight was however the trip to the Great Wall at Muriyana. The ridiculously early start of 6am (we're on holiday for godsake) was soon forgotten as for several hours we had the Wall all to ourselves.