Hello everyone!

I have had SUCH a busy week that I literally haven't had a spare minute to go on the net. This is going to be an epic message......
So I had a few days with Terna which was fun but we couldn;t go to see any tourist stuff because I didn't know what I'd be doing with my tour group so instead we just shopped and went ou lots. We did go to see Kung Fu panda at the cinema though which was really good and not too naughty because it is set in China so it was still cultural!

On Wednesday I changed rooms to begin my tour, I was terrifed going into the room because I didn't know who I would be sharing with. It turned out to be a lovely girl called Eleidh from Scotland and we get on brilliantly which is pretty handy as we will be sharing a room for 3 weeks! We had to go to a meeting that evening to meet the rest of the group and we were so scared because we didn't know what to expect but everyone is really cool. There is a group of 14 of us and most of us are solo travellers, we're all in our 20's too except for a couple from Melboune who are 50. Everyone is really nice and we get on really well so its good fun.
That first night we went out for a meal with our group leader Maylee. She ordered loads of Chinese food and we had a huge revolving table so that we could all try everything. We have been doing this typr of meal every night so we are getting to try all different types of food which is great. We're all really good with chopsticks now because we have no choice but to use them here!

Thursday - We met in the lobby at 8:30am as we had organised a guide to take us to Tianamen square and the forbidden city. Me and Eleidh turn up in our flip flops and everyone lese is in wlaking shoes and ready to climb mountains so already we are the bimbos of the group and we haven't managed to improve this image so far with all the stupid stuff we do!!
Tianamen square is huge and can hold half a million people. There was so many chinese people there but hardly no white people so they all take pics of us. One of the guys in our group had dreadlocks so everyone stops him in the street for pics and they call him bob marley!
It was soooo hot that day so we were all piling on the factor 50 and still burning. I have never experience heat like it is in China, its really unbearable. After the square we went to the forbidden city which was built in 1406! It was where the emporers used to live and the commoners like us weren't allowed in, hence the name. It wasn't that impressive though, eveyone else loved it but it was pretty similar to the palace in Bangkok.
That night we went to see a kung fu show which was really impressive, we were all knackered though so it was hard to keep our eyes open. Afterwards we went to an area called Sanlitun where all the bars are. We stayed out until 4am but I didn't have much to drink.

Friday - We couldn't get out of bed so we let everyone go to see the summer palace without us, then we planned to go and see it later. We tried to find a subway station but they were all closed so we decoded to go to the zoo instead, then we changed our minds and got a train to the summer palce. When we got off the train we couldn't find a taxi and we didn't know how to walk there so we got a rickshaw (man on a bike cycles with a carriage attached) to take us to the zoo. There are tons of pandas at Beijing zoo and they have a huge enclosure and seem really happy. Its a whole different story for the other animals though, they are all in tiny cages with broken windows and nothing to entertain them. It was really upsetting! It was much hotter today than yesterday so we were really dying at the zoo and couldn't managed walking at all without drinking litres of water!
We couldn't get a taxi from the zoo either so we flagged down this crazy metal box which is attached to a motorbike. It was hilarious, we couldn't see where we were going and just screamed the whole time! That evening I needed to buy some trainers for the great wall trek so we went to silk street and I managed to barter them down from 500 yuan to 60 yuan (4 pounds) by pretending that I live in Beijing as a teacher so I was impressed with that!
That night we met up with the group for a meal but afterwards it was raining so hard that we coudn't leave the restuarant. Me and Eleidh thought it would be fun to go out in it but didn't realise quite how bad it was. The roads were about 4 inches deep with water and we couldn't even see where we were going. We were totally soaked through in 5 seconds, then we went to the supermaket and all the chinese people thought we were insane. A man had to follow us around with a mop!

Saturday - We left at 7:30am and caught a bus to the great wall which was 4 hours away. It started raining as soon as we arrived so we were all gutted but once we saw how hard the climb was we were all so grateful for the rain. If it was sunny I din't think I would have been able to do it. Its not just a path on a wall like I thought it is huge steps about half a metre each and there are millions of them. My legs were like jelly and we had to walk it for 6 miles. All these local people walk the whole way with you telling you info and holding an umbrella for you and then afterwards you should buy something from them. I bought a book and a tshirt off my guy because I don't think I would have been able to do it wothout him, he literally had to drag me!
My knee held up pretty well but I was just useless because I hadn't done any exercise in 4 weeks and this was hardcore. It is really dangerous at parts too because the wall is callopsing and there is nothing to stop you falling over the edge. My guy held my hand almost the whole way because I was terrified of falling on my knee and b*****ing it up again. It was all pretty amazing though, the scenery there is gorgeous. It didn't seem real to actually be on the great wall of China though!
That evening we stayed at a hostel with views of the great wall which was really cool. We all went to bed pretty early because we were shattered. Some of the group woke up at 4am and climbed back up to see the sunrise but we didn't bother.

Sunday - We got the bus back to Beijing train station and then got on an overnight train to Xi'an. It took 14 hours but it wasn't too bad because we all sat around playing cards and chatting until midnight and then had a few hours sleep. We have another 2 overnight trains on this trip I think and one of them is 23 hours long so that will be hard!

Monday - We arrived in Xi'an at 6am and headed to our new hotel for the next 2 nights. We have been staying in really nice places so far, I'm really impressed. We all had quick showers and then Maylee (our guide) gave us a quick tour of the city. Then we had a free day to explore. Everyone is getting really sick of rice so we are having a day off today. The girls all went to starbucks for paninis and tea this morning which was amazing and cost almost a whole days budget but it was worth it!
Afterwards we hired bikes and rode around the city wall which is 14km. Me and Eleidh decided to get a 2 person bike for a laugh but it was knackering for such a long journey. It was really scary being at the back because I couldn't see what was going on and had to totally trust her not to crash us into something. I was sure we'd fall off but we made it around ok.
Afterwards we all went for western food and had pizza which was amazing. We want to go back to starbucks for cake now but we are trying not to!

Thats my update then! We have been doing so much it is hard to remember it all. Tomorrow we are going to see the terracotta army which I can't wait for!

I hope your all ok and that you are lucky with some nice weather

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