Beijing and the Great Wall The difference between Beijing and the rest of China that we have visited was immense. It is clear that the government is trying very hard to create a sanitised version of the country, a cosmetic showcase if you like, something that will intensify in the years running upto the city's hosting of the 2008 Olympics. It is all very nice, but the capital is certainly not representative of the rest of China. On a positive note, the people rarely spit (yahoo!) and a little more aware of people around them. Still a long way off polite and considerate though! Had a busy few days in town - amazing what you can get done when the clock is ticking. Visited Tiannamen Square (not a tank or a protesting student in sight, but CCTV and police everywhere), explored the famous Forbidden City to the north of Tian Square(supposedly the best preserved ancient building in China, but to be fair, no longer much competition). Spent a fascinating morning at a Taoist Temple - the most interesting temple we have seen for a long time - check out the photos. One afternoon whilst Lisa went shopping (again) I checked out a Hutong - an old residential district of the city consisting of courtyard houses with narrow roads and alleys criss crossing the area. These covered the city a century ago, but only a handful of remain, the others disappeared long ago, victims of road widening or tower block construction. Hired a guide and was pedalled around this Hutong, stopping off for a visit and tour of an old couples' family home who then served tea whilst I fired questions at the poor woman. Was dying to ask about the years of Communist rule (she would have been about 18 when they came to power) , but all political discussion with foreigners is illegal, so kept it simple. Went to a couple of shows whilst in Beijing. The first was an Acrobatics show. Apparently the Chinese are world leaders, on a par with the French in this area (they would say that) so had to check it out. Fairly low budget affair in a backstreet theatre, but the performance was superb. The second show we went to was an incredible Kung Fu show worthy of an around the world tour folloed by a season in Vegas. Forget the camp boys in London's West End prancing around in tights, this was fantastic. The show had plenty of Jackie Chan style choreographed fight scenes and displays of strength and focus (breaking lengths of metal across their heads, lying on beds of nails etc) whilst following the story of a young boy who become a Shaolin Monk and went through his path to enlightenment. A definite highlight. Beijing is within a couple of hours of a few of the Great Wall sites that the government allows foreigners to visit. Would have been great to visit a crumbling section aswell, but not worth getting arrested for. Checked out a restored area north of Beijing. It is another of those sites where we know what the thing looks like, but coming around the final bend in the road and seeing it snaking around the hills ahead is breathtaking. The hike up the wall to one of the hilltop lookouts is also breathtaking, but well worth the effort. The sight of this wall stretching off into the distance each way is incredible. This thing is awesome, although as the first Chinese astronaut reported - it cannot be seen from space. He is probably now in a government reeducation camp for ruining the finest example of Communist Party rubbish ever dreamt up! Left Beijing aboard a sleeper train. Next stop Suzhou on the road to Shanghai. Will add photos later. S