OK, so we had nothing to loose, and went out today to really explore Beijing. Having been in the same city the whole time, we wanted to dive into some more remote parts of Beijing. So, naturally, we went to Starbucks. There's this small lake, with a bunch of great restaurants and bars around it, and Starbucks has prime realestate. We walked all around the lake, and found a huge bookstore with English books. Bec found some novels and we bought a Lonely Plan...

Got up early and went to airport. Ended up not going to xi'an and tried to get on an earlier flight to thailand. Didn't work out so we went back to the hostel and had lunch with our friend Rachel from Scotland then hung out with our English friends, Louise and Rach in the afternoon. Took a big nap in the afternoon. Woke up and read for a while then had dinner and watched how to lose a guy in ten days. Overall a relaxing day.

LINK to PHOTOS! http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=436121189660448606/l=304415153/g=38535008/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB Today Matt and I traveled 3 1/2 hours in a van with 6 other people from our hostel to Jinshanling (an area of the Great Wall that is still in its original condition dating back to the 1200s). We hiked 10K of the wall and finished in Simatai. There were very few people on the wall other than ourselves. Most tourists visit a restored area of the wall at ...

Sept 12: Today we decided to slow our pace even more and spent about 2 hours reading right after we woke up and then had a leisurely breakfast at the buffet in our hostel. Took a taxi to the Temple of Heaven and walked around the gardens. I absoluetely love it when Chinese people act like they are taking a picture of a monument or famous sight, but really their camera is aimed right at my 6'3" red headed husband. I was thinking we should make a sign in chine...

Hey Everyone! Sept 10th: We finished up the afternoon at the Pearl Market. It's complete madness; 5 floors of Chinese women chasing you down, grabbing your arm and yelling "i give you good price, what price you want?" All in all it was a success but we needed a few tsingtao beers afterwards. We also moved from a private room into a dorm style room with two other couples (one from France and one from Australia) Very fun.Sept 11th: Had a big breakfast in ...