Today was free time in Beijing. We headed out after breakfast with some of our group to visit the Bell and Drum Towers by bus. There is a huge National Political event going on in Beijing right now, hence the increased security we’ve experienced and it’s making the already dreadful traffic worse as they set up road blocks and stop cars.

We stopped briefly en route to the towers to have a look around a 155 year old silk shop. Some of the items had been hand embroidered or painted and were stunning but sadly beyond our means.

The drum and bell towers were closed so sadly we couldn’t go in but we watched some people playing the Chinese version of hackysac for a while.

Angela took the opportunity to use a public toilet nearby and had an ‘An Idiot Abroad’ moment (actually she was fine about it). The facilities were three squat toilets ie holes in the ground, with no cubicles, and a hand basin. She says she’s used worse at concerts

We got onto the metro (after having bags scanned, being patted down etc) paid the equivalent of 60p and headed off to the Olympic Park.

The park is vast and having the opportunity to see such iconic buildings up close was amazing (and Alan was so excited he started taking photos!).

We got to look around the park, visit the VIP lounges in the Birds Nest, visit the Water Cube but best of all ..... walk across the roof of the Birds Nest stadium! We spent the whole afternoon exploring the park.

Back at the hotel we decided to go for a walk. We haven’t really mentioned the traffic here yet. Pollution is rife. Traffic barely moves. Katie Melua was right - there are at least 9 million bicycles in Beijing. There are also millions of motorbikes, tuktuks and mopeds all of which feel free to drive on the pavement. They also don’t use headlights. The green cross code means nothing - cars still make their way through crossings and pedestrians. The roads around the hotel are wide too, so you are constantly dodging people, cars and bikes if you attempt to cross them. We didn’t get far before we’d had enough and went back towards the hotel.

Alan wanted one last Chinese meal (yes Alan!) so we returned to last night’s restaurant. This time we were able to pick out our own meals and there were some interesting items to choose from. Our favourites were:

Signs of fresh meat

The flesh of a donkey boiler

Fried enema

Fried tickle box

We stopped to pick up dessert at the French patisserie attached to our hotel and bought some treats to have while we pack for the homeward leg of our journey tomorrow.