Hi,We had an early..ish start today! We headed over to the Beijing rail station to buy our train tickets for Pingyao..our train will depart 7.30pm local time on Saturday 4th. Beijing station is huge and chaotic but they did have a window especially for 'Foreigners'. Cathal tried his mandarin..I have to say he was quite good ;-) After battling through the railway hordes, we strolled off towards the Forbidden City. Esther promised me that despite the camera, guide...

Pinch punch 1st day of the month! :-) Hallo everyone...Cathal & I are finally in China! It's been an exhausting journey so far...flying from Blighty into Helsinki then Beijing. I felt like a celebrity on the plane..stared at,badgered, but had one reliable entourage member at hand :-) and 14 hours later,we made our way to the Double Happiness Hotel. Like Esther says, it was no picnic getting here.. First on the plane people were playing musical chairs to get...