Wednesday 23rd May

Today we went to Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. The books said it wasn't very good but we enjoyed it! We paid about 7quid eachfor both attractions but then they charge extra for the pandas and the penguins, anything to squeeze more money out of tourists! he zoo was huge, we were knackered before we had seen everything, the massive aquarium is even within the zoo grounds. We went to Outback for dinner and ate far too much food and had too many cocktails!

Thursday we spent all day in the hostel but went to the Beijing Opera in the evening. Now call me dumb but I expected fat men in tuxedo's and fat women in ball gowns belting out songs in a language I dont understand. What I am about to explain is what we got! A large theatre within a hotel seating probably every Westener in Beijing taking ridiculous amounts of photos whilst 'oohing' and 'aahhing' at the performers. It began with a man on stage with just a sword and an empty table. he checked into an Inn and then fought with the Inn Keeper, apparently on the dark. During this extremely dragged out scene an 'orchestra' (if you can call them that!) made banging noises which sounded like a three year old with his first drum kit. So at this point Im sure you can imagine us thinking 'what the hell arewe doing here and any chance of a refund?!! Ot did however omprove as the show went on. Lots of lottle Chinese women tiptoeing around makig meow noises and men fighting with sticks. They saved the best untill last, a women and three men throwing/juggling sticks between each other. She would use different parts of her body to tos it backto them, like kicking it back with her foot. It was very impressive (although after the men fighting in the dark anything would be!)

Friday 25th May

We got up early, packed quickly and got a taxi to our next hotel, Chong Wen Men where we met our Intrepid group. We checked in and were very impressed wit the room! We were even given complimentary his & hers slippers!! we had an introductory meeting with Intrepid at 6pm then we all went out to dinner. It was really tasty and cheap, we ordered duck with pancakes, peanut chicken, spicy beef, eggplant, porkballs, veg and rice. And beer of course! It was less than 3quid each inc beer!

Saturday 26th May

We went to the Summer Palace this morning which is a huge park, two-thirds lake full of temples, gardens, pavillons and the 728m long corridor. Royalty woul go there during the summer as it was far to hot at The Forbidden City. It was good to see but very crowded and it was scorching, chelsea even brought an umbrella to get some shade (just like the locals she fitted right in!)

In the evening we went to see a Kungfu Show at the Red Theatre. After seeing the opera we didn't really now what to expect but it was amazing! It follows the story of a young boy arriving at a Buddhist monastry and his journey to enlightenment. It was mesnerising from start to finish. So much was going on and the backdrops and props used were fantastic. Highly recommended!!

Sunday 27th May

Today our group hired a guide to show us around Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the worlds largest public square situated in the heart of Beijing and can hold 1 milllion people! There is a huge portrait of Chairmen Mao (founder of the Peoples Republic Of China in 1949) on the Gate of Heavenly Peace which leads into The Forbidden City. So called because it was of limits to commoners for 500 years, it is the largest cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was constructed between 1406 and 1420 by 1 million labourers and was home to 23 Ming and Qing emperors. It has 3 main halls - supreme harmony (ceremonial occasions), Middle Harmony (lounge for the emperor) and Preserving Harmony (banquets). The funniset thing was there is a starbucks inside part of the city!