Well I am still in Beijing. Thank you to everyone who has messaged me to check I'm ok, I really appreciate it. I am not near the earthquake affected area and didn't feel it here, although a few people did and some high rise buildings were evacuated. I'm due to be heading to that area next week so waiting to hear from the tour company as to what is happening...think a slight change to the intinerary will be in order!!

Beijing is good so far. I have been to the Forbidden City which was really interesting, it's huge!!! I spent yesterday walking around the Summer Palace which was lovely. Really nice to get out of the city for a bit and have a bit of quiet time. One side of the lake was full of tour groups but the other side was really peaceful and had amazing views. I don't think I fully appreciated how big it was before I got there, it took 2 hours just to walk around the lake let alone all the rest of the grounds. It was definitely worth it though

I went to Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall this morning and walked around his preserved body. Even after everything the Chinese still worship him, was quite a weird experience!

All in all Beijing is good, will be ready to leave though on Monday, it's a busy place and it is tiring, but I have enjoyed my time here so far

xxx