hi guys!!!!

Sorry!! know it has take me ages to eventually get on this web site to update it!! But seriously becky gadd!...get a life!!! The internet in China is crap, only thing it is good for is hotmail.

It all started with our ferry which this time was surprising calm this time round!! and noone was sea sick! yay! and it was actually a nice rest after racing around Japan the week before!! so we caught up on a lot of needed sleep!!

We arrived back in Shanghai...and caught the 12 hour over night train to Beijing! which wasn't the best of experiences!! as we are on a budget we opted for a soft seat instead of a sleeper....BAD IDEA! hardly slept at all and when i finally did drop off in the most comfortable position i could bend in...at about 5 in the morning the train was nice and silent...suddenly this yappie kid sitting behind wouldnt shut the hell up, it sounded like we were in the bloody zoo with this girl screetching and shouting to her mum that was sitting about 1cm away from her! jen gave her evils and told her to 'shhhh!!!!' which shut her up for about 3 mins then we just gave up on sleeping anymore!

Anyways Beijing is excellent!! We have done loads since we have been here! Everyday has been action packed!! Been to famous Tiananman Square (largest public square in the world) which was massive! Jen and i are still feelin like celebs here...even poilce men were asking to have their photos taken with us that day!! obviously dont see that many white people in china! ill post the pics on here when i reach a hostel with a decent internet connection! also visited The Forbidden City (where more random chinese wanted photos with us...this time a lady shoved her big baby on jens lap! its so funny and a little freaky), The Temple of Heaven, Jingahan Park which had amazing views of Beijing! The Great Hall of People, The Summer Palace...which was also stunning. My favorite day was visiting the Great Wall of China...we visited the wall at Badaling..to get up the wall to a certain hight we took the slide (dont ask!! a random little train/rollercoster thing that cranked u up to the top and slid u down when u left! so weird! but hey its china!) when up at the wall we climbed up higher, the views were amazing, the wall twisted and turned in the distance winding through mountains in the horizon. Had such a great time there, was much better than i expected.

We love Beijing! and jen and i have become slightly addicted to the Silk Market..which sells almost everything!!! for almost nothing!! we have been having lots of fun bartering with the little chinese women gettin the prices down low...and they do great fakes! we both bough Tiffany neclaces for about a quid...and they havent even gone green yet!!haha give it time i guess! 'HELLO LADY...u want bag? wallet u like wallet? what u want lady?' its quite funny, we have taken to harassing them now with chat before they can speak, shuts them up a bit as sometimes it can become a bit of a nightmare walking about the market with them all shouting at you at the same time!! We will miss the market! but sure we will com across some more in no time!!

Met up with jens chinese mate lisa this morning, was a great day and was cool having someone with us that could actually translate for us! unstead of us two talking english slowly with a chinese accent and making up our own sign language to communicte! Lisa took us to the great hall of people and a Chinese tea house..which was really nice as we tried green tea and little chinese cakes, they both actually tasted really good! i was surprised as for some reason i was avoiding the green tea! We then ended with a lovely lunch in a great restaurant..and again it helped having someone chinese to talk for us and for once i was albe to order the exact vegetarian meal i wanted! yay for lisa!

So far Beijing has been the coldest place! we are hoping that it will start getting warmer the further south in China we go!! Today (21st jan) we are getting another 12 hour over night train..this time going to Xian, which is south west of here. We have opted for a sleeper this time tho! haha splashing out hey! so maybe this time we will have a better night!

try and get my pics on asap as know becky gadd is having a breakdown about it!!! Chill out sado!

love ya! xx