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, guidebook, telltale traveller shorts and distinctly pale skin I didn't look like a tourist. She can't have been telling the truth though, as we were accosted by about 100 different pairs of 'art students' all of whom just happened to have an exhibition nearby! Still, we made it to the Forbidden city without buying any art, and maybe more impressively, without employing the services of one of the many 'tour guides' outside! The city itself was impressively large and imposing, with a rich history of intrigue and power mongering.. It's easy to imagine what life might have been like for the lucky few that lived there.

We walked for quite a while, admiring the Emperor's lifestyle,discovered how concubines were picked for the emperor..life must have been great if you were on the right side of the wall. Oh just so you know amongst all this amazing history..I am very much still the hot celebrity here in Beijing, my faithful entourage was at hand again to fend off the locals from getting too close! One dear..literally reached out to touch my hair!! Celebrity status has its ups & down you know. Cathal & I were taking a long deserved rest by the temple moat, when a Chinese family walked by and then their over excited daughter did a double take and asked to have a photo taken with me!! She was overjoyed by it all :-) Very bizarre but they were very polite. Cathal took a photo to remind me of how famous I've become...what next signed autographs....?

Yep, so Esther's a star! Some people earn fame, others have it thrust upon them... So anyway, after the Forbidden City we spent some time discovering just how hard it can be to get a taxi to go somewhere, but we somehow found a nice little bar, and ended up at a restaurant eating some of the best food we've ever eaten in our lives! Esther's even gained some chopsticks skills! We're totally shattered.. Up early for the Great Wall tomorrow! There should be a few pics in the photo album to look at. Back with more tomorrow!

E&C x

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