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We had a few more days in Beijing after the group left.

One of the days we found a taxi with Heather and Russ to the Great Wall, finding one that would take us to Mutianyu and back for 600 yuan. The drive took about 1:15 and it rained the whole way there, but it stopped by the time we got there. At Mutianyu they have a chairlift on the way up (the wall is on the top of a ridge) and a toboggan ride down again - it cost about 100 each for the return journey including entrance to the wall. The view from the top wasn't that great at first as there were low clouds over the mountains, but as we were there they lifted and we could see along the wall a lot further, at least as far as the smog allowed. The section of wall we walked along had been restored and was smooth with walls on either side, but the boys walked right up to the top of one section and there was some more parts up there that were crumbling away and covered with trees. The toboggan ride down again was great fun, but halfway down we met a small child who was going really slowly so the last part was a bit boring.

Another day we headed to the Summer Palace. At the back of the convention centre is a ferry that goes to the summer palace - the ticket was 100 yuan including entry to the palace. The boat wasn't too crowded when we first got on it and we thought we were going to have a nice peaceful ride, but then it stopped at the zoo and filled up with people. At a lock we all had to get off and get on another boat at the other side. The rest of the boat trip was fairly straight up the canal until the start of the lake by the summer palace, where our ferry trip ended. We decided to walk around the edge of the lake rather than take another ferry as it was getting hot in the sun (even though we could barely see it through the smog). It was a nice walk though, through willow and pear trees and over old wooden bridges. The summer palace itself is spread along the north side of the lake, and is made up of loads of different wooden buildings. Most of these buildings these days seem to be full of souvenir shops. We got a couple of little dragon Christmas decorations but nothing else. The highest point in the palace is the pagoda, which you have to pay extra to get up to and walk up loads of really steep stairs, but the view over the lake is nice and the pagoda itself is a really amazing building. Once we had enough of the heat and the crowds we walked down to the closest subway station, which looks fairly close on the map but is actually ages away. We were well and truly pleased to see it when we eventually found it. You can get rickshaws from the palace entrance, we should probably have done that, but I guess the walk was good for us.

The morning of the 9th we were out and about early to get into the Forbidden City. The line up for the tickets wasn't too long when we got there and it didn't take us long to get inside with our audio guides. They were really good in there - they work on GPS and start telling you about something when you get near it. There are so many temples and palaces inside the place - it took us all morning to see only half the place and then we decided to go because we'd had enough of walking. The crowds weren't too terrible. We are taller than almost everyone anyway so had no trouble looking over people. The city has really beautiful buildings and also a lot of exhibitions around the place - you could easily spend a whole day there.

Another day we headed on the Subway to Tiantandongmen station to the Temple of Heaven. You pay an entrance to the park around it and a different ticket to get into the sights there. The complex is huge and the park around it even bigger, and even on a Monday it was full of people. There was all sorts of stuff going on there as well - people singing, dancing, doing odd sports and just hanging out. The temple complexes were beautiful buildings as well, where the emperor used to carry out sacrifices and rituals each year to ensure a good harvest. The main temple building there is supposed to be constructed of wood without any nails or glue - quite an amazing place.

We ate loads of really nice food in Beijing - dumplings, hotpot, sushi... we also found a great place called Grandma's Kitchen which has branches all over but there's on just near the Forbidden City on Nanchizie Dajie. It's an American style place that does great breakfast and also huge burgers and really nice milkshakes too. We also had more than our fair share of McD's breakfast!