Early start at 8 for a 3 hr bus ride to the Great Wall. Had a good journey & got there just after 11. Went straight to the wall & left our back packs with the driver to meet us at the other end. There was a treck up to the wall to begin with & the local sellers followed us & tried flogging all the way. There are 62 towers on the wall, over 5,000km long. We were gonna do 30 of them! As we set off i began to worry about the condition of the floor. ...

Visited the Summer Palace where the water surrounding the park was frozen. Got a tube then a bus there & a long bus journey home. All the locals find us funny & are not shy to take photos with and test their English on us. All the small children who would usually wear nappies back home have a large cut in their clothes so they have easy access to the toilet in the street. Sorted out clothes that night to take to a hostel by the Great wall. Earlly nigh...

Getting lazy with the journal entries already so will be brief. Met up early in the morning at the lobby to visit the Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square. Weather was chilly but sunny. Got the tube & buses all day. Went to see a kung foo show at the Red Theatre. Wicked. Met up with most of the gang in the afternoon for some drinks in the Hostel bar. Played games and laughed. Good day. I have to mention the dirty habit the Chinese (men ...

We landed in Beijing airport at 11.30am local time. Flight was good and fast. Had no fuss getting through customs & luggage arrived quickly. When meeting the bloke holding the sign with our names on we walked straight past him but caught up again. Oops! Waiting was a guy called Shaun & 2 girls called Gina & Victoria. They all travelled on their own. Some experienced & some just like us. We made our way to the mini bus & realised how di...

Woke up at 8 to pick up Emma & Sheila with Mum to go to the grave & leave Nan some flowers to say thank you. Went back to Eileen's to have a cuppa. Jeff said his goodbyes as he was off to work. Came home with mum. 9.30 got into shower for the last time. Enjoyed every luxury second of it as it may have been my last for a while (as Paddy reminded me). Had some cheese on toast (perfect). Finished sorting out my back pack & was done by 11. Ray, Jad...