Ready for the next update, this one isn't as long as the last , but hopefully just as interesting.

We left Beijing two nights ago after a full on two days of tourist love. After a much needed lye inn on our first day, we layered ourselves up, put on our new coats and headed towards the forbidden city, on the way being harrassed by con-men, beggers and 'art students' wanting to sell you fake paintings, we arrived at the entrance to the city only to discover we hadn't got any cash on us, and so back to the hotel, walking past the same con-men, beggars and 'students'. We found an ATM and took the opportunity at the hotel to put on our money belts and leave anything we really didn't need in the room, and once more we went back to the City, past our now friends (who didn't bother us this time)

Most of the places we went in Beijing we rarely saw any Westners, including in the tourist areas. This is mainly due to the time of year, but also they only expect tourist on tour buses and not the way Amy and I have done things,using local transport and walking many places. So everywhere we went we got stared at, we got use to it after a while, what we didn't expect was people approaching us for a photo with them (young Chinese as well) . Once again they managed to say that I looked like Brad Pitt,which I thought was very nice of them (I think they were really saying 'He is a Fat Gitt' rather than 'He is Brad Pitt')

The Forbidden city is amazing and as rude as it sounds it was quite a relief to get away from every one approaching us, we spent two hours walking through, taking in the unbelievable history, as we went through the exit at the north end we were once again bombarded with the usual ricsaw rider, taxi drivers and women with children on their backs asking for money. As soon as they see a white face they are drawn to you like a magnet, it does open you up to another side of China and you realise the country really is under developed. We headed out of the exit and to a view point over the city, the smog mixed with the mist under the low light of the sun gave view and earie feel. The pollution is one of the first things you do notice when you get to Beijing, and it gets down your throat, the roads are huge with traffic everywhere, this was something that was apparantly worse before the Olympics.

In the afternoon we headed to some more markets,these were aimed at the tourists, but the food areas were full of locals, some of the delights on offer were Scorpions on skewers, that were still alive and riggiling around. Amy was tempted by them but I think i put her off , we then ventured to Tiannemen Square in time for the flag lowering in the evening, like everywhere in beijing they have bags and sensor checks before we entered, security at the square is huge and they don't want any more protests! We watched the soldiers march our of the Forbidden city to lower the flag, when the flag is lowered, in perfect timing to the sunset, all the locals start getting things out to sell, from kites, books, tours, hats and crap.

After this we headed out to a restaurant for some pekking duck, and it was awesome, although they had us in and out within 25 minutes so we headed to the night food markets for something sweet as well as take some pictures of the food. On offer was sheeps penis, which apparantly helps with the down stairs department (they literally say anything to get a sale). Amy oppted for a fruit skewer in caramel, whilst I had bannas in batter. At least the stall owner said whilst pointing to it that it was banana, as it turns out it was just donuts, and for those of you that know me being a fan of donuts this really didn't bother me.

The following day was The Great Wall of China day, something we had to fit in before we got the night train to Xi'an. Our lonely planet guide pointed us towards a tourist bus station, that after an hour walking around and being harrassed turned out to be closed down. So we managed to find a bus going to the wall, the last one of the day. To our surprise (and theirs) we met a couple on their travels around the world, Emily and Matt. They had the same issues as us in China but had also spent the previous month in Japan, where they hadn't really met anyone. Emily could talk as much as Amy, and to the annoyance of the others on the bus they chewed each other ears off. We really did welcome the company as we didn't expect to meet anyone, and we saw the great wall with them which was breath taking and everything we expected, although it did get misty.

We got back to Beijing in the evening and bid farewell to our new friends, gathered our bags from the hotel a headed to the train station for our 9.18pm departure to Xi'an. Leaving from a train station in China is like going to an airport, you must check in 2 hours early, so we had alot of needless hanging around, the station was extremley busy and once again Amy and I were the only Westerners in sight. We boarded the train, but unfortunately we weren't as lucky as the train from Hong Kong,we had to share with a father and son heading to Xi'an for work (we think anyway). This obviously unsettled Amy and I, so we rudely put our rucksacs in our security bags and locked them up. We took for granted that for a Chinese person to afford a cabin we were staying in meant they were quite well off. In the end we tried to communicate, there Engligh being as good as our Chinese, but throuhgh drawing pictures and a lot of hand gestures we managed to get by, even teaching them a card game (we taught the game sh!t head) Which Justin lost most of the time.

As soon as our train arrived we checked in to our hotel, had a shower and headed straight back out to get the local bus to the Terracotta Warriors, which is the reason we came to Xi'an in the first place. We were not disapointed, to see the sight in the flesh really is breath taking, and you just can't even begin to understand how they made so many, each with different features,it was money well spent and something we treasured.

We arrived back at the hotel and ventured out to check on the train prices for our over night train to Shanghai, approaching the 'English speaking Kiosk' to find out the details, it turned out they couldn't speak engligh at all. The station was packed, with people everywhere, the queue's we huge. At this point Amy and I decided that we had enough of Train travel in China, and booked an internal flight to Shanghai instead, at the same cost. So an extra night in Xi'an with an early flight in the morning.

Sorry its been a long one again, but so much we want to share with you.

Update you in Shanghai.

J and A xxx