We arrived in Beijing after another early start (4.30am) and a long transfer day (1 bus, 2 planes, subway and 1 mile walk with bags). We were initially struck by the number of people, bicycles, motorised bikes and manic traffic system. More by luck than judgement we made it to the hostel where we were greeted by really lovely friendly staff, a pet bird and a very cute white pet rabbit with an excellent hairdo.

So when in a new place you go find your feet. We had a wander out to locate some water and a few supplies. We soon encountered a strip of restaurants that led to a supermarket and so we headed in picking up water and little else. Feeling hungry we decided to take a look in one of the restaurants that looked the safest and cleanest. We were warmly welcomed, sat at a table and brought a couple of Chinglish menus. After scouring a few pages we encountered dog hotpot (description read dog meat, dog meat with dog gravy), a few more dog related items, grilled chicken head kebab (not the place to mistakenly and drunkenly wander into after last orders), pork knuckle and tripe. Having lost our appetites we quickly decided to forego this culinary adventure and headed back to the sanctity of our hostel where we ordered some fried rice and sweet and sour, not great but not Fido either!

The next day we headed out for a look at the "Ya Show" Market and nearby shops. It was cool and great fun - we browsed, bartered and picked up various stuff that we never even knew we needed before heading back to the hostel for food and bed.

The following day we made our way to the Harmony Hotel where we would begin the second GAP trip on our itinerary. This one, called Asia Backroads, would take us from China through Laos to Bangkok in Thailand over 21 days. After a day of exploring, otherwise known as getting lost, encountering squat toilets and finding no one that spoke English, we headed to the welcome meeting. We were a small but elite group comprising us, 2 Canadians and 2 Norwegians (again Mike was the only man on the tour) and our guide Brett from Australia. That night we headed to a traditional restaurant famous for it's Peking Duck - very spit and sawdust and very tasty.

The next day the trip would begin in ernest. We met our local guide Kevin who would guide us round Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which some of you film buffs may remember from The Last Emperor or the 2011 version of the Karate Kid (Mike has seen both). We got there via the subway and a short walk. The square itself is big -44,000 square hectares. The old gateways that used to be part of the entrance to the city and the square still stand which are pretty ornate and tell of what to expect within the Forbidden City. The walls themselves are long gone courtesy of Chairman Mao. Within the square is the mausoleum where you can go and see Mao himself encased in a glass coffin since 1974. It was closed on the day we went and apparently you have to queue like Alton Towers to even get close. There is also a monument column which is guarded by the military police. The square is huge, so we did the touristy thing and walked around and took a hundred pictures.

Next came the Forbidden City. Still encased by walls but far from forbidden now: crowds of people of every nationality swarm the place and all funnel through the multiple gateways to the inner sanctum. The architecture is stunning, and the place is enormous with gated towers leading to a small courtyard and tiny building where the emperor would have stayed and lived out his existence along with about 3000 concubines of his choosing, various eunuchs (ouch) and a few hundred generals and people that helped govern the land. The crowning glory I guess is the palace where you see the throne, and the area that houses the bed upon where the emperor was supposed to have slept if not with one of his concubines elsewhere in the grounds. It's a big place and even though there are hundreds if not a thousand people in groups around you, your still able to find a corner with no-one else present (if your quick). We walked around for a good while and finished exploring the gardens which were ornate and littered with pagodas, rockerys, trees and plants and statues of dragons and elephants and various other things on stands, pretty cool place lots of history.

We spent our final day in Beijing at the Great Wall - at the Mutianyu part to be exact (as visited by Karl Pilkington in An Idiot Abroad). With no coercion whatsoever from Brett we confidently opted to walk up to the Great Wall and so off we went dismissing the cable car out of hand. However, little did we know the walk involved over 1,400 steps up the side of a mountain in a heatwave. Each time the steps disappeared out of view, we trudged towards the precipice only to encounter more steps. It was tough but we made it eventually. It was definitely worth the effort - the views were spectacular. We walked up steps, up slopes, down slopes, down steps and through towers before heading back with photo upon photo of and from the wall. The descent was far easier and a lot more fun - a toboggan all the way down. Hurrah.

Later that day tired and achy, we boarded the overnight train to Shanghai. This was an experience. Each compartment contains 6 bunks laid out vertically in 3s. From the side, the carriages, which each house 66 bunks, resemble the drawers you see in mortuaries in crime dramas like CSI. The second and third bunks are difficult to get in and out. They also feel like being buried alive in a coffin 2 sizes too small - can't sit up, can't move and stifling. And the less said about the squat toilets the better (trying to repress it). It was a long and sleepless night and we were very glad to reach Shanghai.

Mike and Kelly