Well hello everyone.

We are having such a great time now in Beijing compared to Shanghai. Beijing is such a beautiful city and there's a lot to do and see here. First of all want to say that Darren got some very bad news from home during our time in Beijing. It certainly made us realise that reality is just around the corner and we felt we were a million miles from home. To whom this concerns we love you very dearly and you are both always in our thoughts :o) xxx xxx

The journey here was awful. It was a sleeper coach which had bunk beds on it in 3 rows. The photos of the bus are on the Shanghai part. We do not know why the drivers over here beep all the time. Our driver kept beeping all night so we didn't sleep a wink. Also Gemma had a very smelly Chinese man below her and every time he moved she could smell him. What made it worse was that there were no windows which could be open so we were stuck for 18hours with stale air. Once we arrived in Beijing we were taken to our hostel by taxi and flopped on the bed and had a sleep for a couple of hours. We then decided to venture out and went for some food in a shopping mall, using the metro line. Its very cheap 3yuan each which is about 20p to go anywhere.

As you can see by the photos its very very cold here so we needed to buy some jumpers, hat, scarf and gloves. From a very grand shopping mall which also sold a lot of fur. We went into the shop as Gemma was intrigued as to how much a fur coat would be. Meaning how much that animal died for. There was a snow leopard coat worth 9000 pounds. This is awful considering they are pretty much extinct. We both came out of there gobsmacked.

We went to the Forbidden city which is such a huge place. Its, its own city within a city which is completely surrounded by its own wall. There were 2 emperors who lived in the palace and never needed to venture out because it is so vast and peaceful. The buildings are just like you imagine old china to be. There are amazing paintings and figures on the roofs and the palace walls. We had such a great time just looking around. Next to the Forbidden city is a huge square which has the 'china museum' on one side and the 'hall of people' on the other. Its about 16 hectares at a guess. We didn't go in the museum as we have had our fair share of them just recently :o) We saw the countdown board to the 2008 Olympics. Its very strange to see a clock counting down over such a large amount of time. There is a photo of it in the Beijing section. 'The hall of people' place is equivalent to our houses of parliament with huge rooms used for major world/country meetings. Very impressive!

The Great Wall. Well we decided to go with a tour (very very unlike us and never again) as we wanted to go to the Ming tombs as well which was on route. To begin with we thought it was a great idea but now we know otherwise. Lonely Planet warns about tours that say they will go to the Wall but on the way they will stop at Jade (stone) making factories. Then rope you into buying them. This also means the tour company will get a percentage for items sold at the Jade factories. We didn't think for one second that this very official tour company would do this until we pulled up outside a jade factory. Very clever the way there is only one way in and the exit takes you past lots and lots of counters selling lots of jade related products. We were both very unhappy at this point and felt a bit conned. Next was the Ming Tombs. This was ok but only had an hour here before being ushered back on the bus. The tombs were also more like an underground tube station and didn't really excite us. We had lunch which was at 11.30am. We were not hungry at all as we had breakfast at 9am. This was also rushed and we didn't really have much as it tasted a bit weird. We ended up at the Great Wall at last only to have 2 hours there. We wanted to walk up the wall but didn't have enough time so had to go on a toboggan ride up. We got forced into paying 60yuan each by our tour guide. Once we were up there it was an amazing site but ruined by all the tourist things like camel rides, dozens of stalls selling cheap souvenirs, it was obvious that the wall had been rebuilt and this really tacky bear enclosure which people look down into. The poor bears. We wanted to go on a part that was not touristy at all but you run the risk of getting fined a lot if you get caught. After such a build up, even before travelling, we were disappointed by the whole Great Wall experience. It was also very very cold up there and there was a north wind which cut right through us. Overall view was not very good and definitely not worth the money. Maybe if we went to a very remote original part, we may have felt different. But because of the above, couldn't see what the fuss was about.

Temple of Heaven park was great. This was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and to be in a green wooded area. It was very peaceful. There was an echo wall which is a big circular area. Two people stand at either end of the circumference and can have a normal conservation over a very large distance. Basically the wall was made so that it can carry sound waves around it perfectly. And guess what, it bloody works! Very good :o) There was a lot of history and beautiful sights (like above photo) to see. It was a very nice simple day and had a very good time.

We went to a Chinese night market. We tried a variety of local food but the highlight was 6 deep fried Scorpions and yes they taste just like chicken. As you can see from the photos we really enjoyed them and would definitely eat them again. This was probably the biggest moment since leaving home that we felt like real travellers. We were on top of the world and very proud of ourselves.

The Military war museum was really fantastic as you can tell by all the photos. It was one of those last minute decisions to do one late afternoon. But upon arriving, we realised it was a lot to see there and had to come back the following day. We do feel that china overall is a little military orientated and you really could see how and why from visiting the military museum. A very impressive place and sorry if I (Darren) bored you with too many photos of weapons and artillery. But it was a site to see :o)

On a final note, a bit of a negative. Gemma got bitten by a lot of bed bugs. We had twin beds and she used an extra cover from the cupboard from which we came to the conclusion it was from this as Darren didn't use his cover and didn't get bitten once. She has over 40 bites on her legs and bum. They are very itchy and Darren finds them amusing.

Hope you have enjoyed reading our trip to Beijing. We would definitely come back here. We are now getting the train to Xi'an. Speak to you soon.

Lots of love Gemma and Darren xxx