Right I have finally gotten round to doing my website so apologies for the delay!  All has been quite crazy and we have been so busy this has been the first chance I have got to do this!

 Anyway onto the exciting stuff!  We arrived in Beijing on Friday the 13th very jet lagged as it is 7 hours ahead of English time.  Nick was brill and found our hostel really quickly!  The whole day we were in a bit of a daze from the jet lag!  We walked down to Tianmen Square which was pretty impressive.  Straight away you notice the spitting, although it is apparantly illegal in Beijin, and they stare at you so much some even walk into you!  There are hardly any white people over there so you feel like you really stand out as well as being taller!  We always felt safe because apparantly crimes against foreigners are punishable by death!

We then got the metro to the Zoo where we spent the afternoon wandering around.  It was fun and we started to realise how cheap everything is!  The whoole time we have been away we have been good enough to eat out which is fun as no one speaks english and most menus dont have english or pics so we have had to randomly point but the food has been great everytime!

Our hostel was ok although we later on found out the bugs were actually cockroaches and the bar downstairs was in fact a brothel!!!  There appears to be no hot water in Beijing either so cold showers all round!

 Sunday we then went to the Forbidden City which was pretty amazing and my pics really don't do it justice!  It is surprising how many chinese tourists there are and big tour groups which are a bit annoying as they do seem to take over!  From the forbidden city we walked to a market which was really cool and we picked up some bargainous Gortex North Face Jackets for 10 quid each!  Loving it!  Had to buy myself a fake Gucci watch too!  We found a great resturant near the market which even sold sweet and sour and we were pleased to see many locals had also ordered this so we didnt feel so bad eating it and it turned out to be the best we have had!

Sunday we went to a market which was a lot more touristy so not so many bargains to be had as they must be used to the Americans paying full whack!  We were having none of it so headed to the pearl market which was amazing.  You notice in Beijing that no tourists walk anywhere as taxis are so cheap, but Nick and I walked everywhere as we are on a budget so we had plenty of stares between us!

Monday we went on a Great Wall Tour which was only 10 pounds and included lunch and all our entry costs.  The downside was that we got taken to 4 different factories...a pearl, jade, silk and general one, but the Great wall definately made up for it!  It was as amazing as it looks in pics but it was hardcore walking up and down and still havent decided which was harder work!  By the bottom our legs were shaking!

Tuesday we got a train to Xi'an where the Terracotta Army are.  The train took 14 hrs so we took a sleeper train.  I was slightly concerned about this but it turned out to be really nice even though we had bought hard sleeper tickets.  There were 6 beds to a section (2 bunks 3 high)and all the sections were open within the carriage, but it was more spacious and clean than I thought it would be......read my next journal entry to hear all about our adventures in Xi'an!