Well it is currently thursday (20th Nov) and we are in Beijing for a few more days yet before joining our tour of the rest of China on Sunday (we have 3 days in Beijing included in that as well). I thought I better bring you all up to date though as we have been up to so much.

Well, on the train from Ulaanbaatar from beijing we were joined in our cabin by a guy from Hong Kong called Paul who had been in New York studying......Architecture! So you can imagine the riveting conversation...photoshop/photography/sights in china/sights we would see and recommend/Uni experiences/Specific architects! hahah At least we were all together! The highlight of this train journey however was the border crossing. The wheels had to be changed as the tracks differ between Mongolia and China. Whilst we were having our carriage raised we noticed a guard practicing his Kung Fu. Having been on a train for the best part of 24 hours we found this highly amusing! The he starts doing some shuffles, irish dancing and tap dancing!!!! Sam was singing Michael Jackson and jokingly commented that the next thing would be the moon dance.....well....guess what.....it only bloody was! The timing couldn't have been better and the whole carriage erupted in hysterics! We were all out of our cabins in the corridor looking and I think Karl caught it on camera!!!! Must also mention that the whole carriage was full of westerners! So was a good journey.

Arrived in Bejing in the afternoon with the daunting prospect of finding our hostel with the basic directions we had from the internet. We were really lucky though and were greeted at the station by someone from our hostel! We think they were just trying to find new custom but it worked for us as we got a free mini-bus straight to the door! The hostel we are staying in is amazing! Its called Leo Hostel if anyone plans on going to Bejing. Its right in the middle of the Hutongs with traders shouting out ot g et your attention selling anything from food to souvenirs and electricals. It is right in the heart of everything and inside, the hostel is really social. The staff are overly friendly and theres a massive space to watch films and music videos. Also they do food which is good and cheap and we have met loads of people here. The first night we arrived though we headed out to meet Eric and Kathryn and Sue and Graham for dinner. It was a mission trying to find them as we had arranged to meet in Tiannamen Sq not knowing it closed off and guarded at night! We did find each other though and had a hotpot. I'm sure some of you know what this is but for the ignorant like me its basically a boiling urn in the middle of the table and you cook your own meat, tofu, vegetables etc. It was really good fun! We then took everyone back to our hostel showing them the hutongs along the way. I think its safe to say everyone was impressed with the atmosphere! Back in the hostel a few of them tried some Leo Vodka made of all sorts such as snake, scorpian etc etc.....i was still of the hard stuff so declined! Then a round of rice wine followed which I had a sip of and its safe to say that was vile!

Since then we have been to the Summer Palace, Kung Fu show, the Olympic site, Lama monastary, CCTV building (as well as Soho and business district), Temple of Heaven as well as an excursion out to Datong, a town 7hrs away from Beijing. We got the night train, spent the day and had a tour to some hanging temples and caves and then the night train back, arriving in Bejing at 4am! Luckily the hostel here in Beijing were really helpful and said we could leave our big bags here and we had a room waiting for us at 4am! Yesterday we tried to go to the commune on the great wall but getting there proved difficult and we fell at the first hurdle of trying to leave Beijing! We may get to go again on our free day on the tour so we shall see. We plan to hire bikes and add to the 9 million already here (which we have seen!!!!) tomorrow.

Some thing to mention so far - spitting here is a massive thing. Everyone does it and makes a big deal out of it it.....reaching deep inside to collect every last drop of flem. It actually makes me feel quite sick but its considered acceptible here.

Also, we have had duck a few times. This is literally the whole duck, the skin, breast meat and the bones. For those that know I don't usually eat meat off the bone but once karl convinced me to try some they couldn't stop me!!!! They had been marinated and I hate to compare but were quite like KFC spices! Absolutely delicious. I was like a born again carnivore! We went again last night for more of the same and were shouted at by a waitress for not filling the wraps correctly!!! I have also drunk a bit of tea and coffee so i may be a reformed character on my return! I have found i've been a lot more open to trying new foods....so watch this space!

Better go but will try and update a bit more frequently. Hope you are all well, let me know your news. Missing you all....lots of love clem xxxxxx