Ok, Hi everyone it is day two of our wee trip and the iron grip of jet lag is starting to loosen allowing us to chillout a bit more and appreciate the beautiful madness of Beijing.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the forbidden city which i can say with no exaggeration is the most impressive place I have ever been and I have been to St James's AND the cafe at the top of Hartside pass to give you an indication of the quality of the opposition.

Seriously the photos do not do it justice and every time you think you have seen everything it has to offer it astounds you once again, the buildings and coutyards are immense, the gardens look like the the wet dream of a kung fu screenwriter and it just keeps going on and on.

Enough - my descriptive skills are too feeble to seriously attempt a description. I was continually gobsmacked like a goldfish watching the end of The Usual Suspects on a loop.

Fresh from the forbidden city we managed to pick up some seriously overpriced street food then off to the Chinese acrobatics show which was also (in an entirely different and more manageable way) outstanding.

The only drawback in the day was realising that food stall prices are for bartering with rather than accepting, a fine lesson to take forward to day three. But fear not dear readers, the b******s will not grind us down.

So overall an excellent day and ready to kick ass and take numbers in the morning as Rachelle would say if she wasn't asleep. By the way don't get too used to this stunning prose, we have free internet access at the moment but we move to a cheap hotel tomorrow.

Love & Hugs to you all

R & A