There was nothing planned today and we were left to our own devices, so Jane, Emma and I headed over to Tiananmen Square as others had been here previously, and much to our amazement it was closed off to the public for some reason by the police and army. We took a couple of pictures of the square from across the road and then joined the crowds on the way up to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was absolutely huge with load of different buildings which all ...

This morning I met up with our group and we headed out for a Chinese breakfast of porridge, won ton soup, and two different types of dumplings. Well, all I can say was that the porridge had the consistency of wall paper paste and didn't taste much better too, the dumplings repeated on me all day and the won ton soup was good but not what I would normally have for breakfast. I guess it is breakfast in the hotel tomorrow.After breakfast some of the group spli...

Today I headed out on the Beijing underground to the Kunming Hu (Summer Palace) at the cost of 2 Yuan (20p) via lines 4, 10 and 5 in the north west of the city. Before I left, I had checked to see if there were any caches in the area and downloaded the maps and info to my phone via the hotel wi-fi and then by the time I left the hotel I had forgotten to pick up my TB and therefore didn't bother looking when got there. I guess I will just have to leave it s...

I got up early today so I could set off to Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 with Christina. We wanted to make sure that I got down there OK and still had time to have some lunch together before I went through to departures.We got to Heathrow checked in and then went to the pub for a final pint of Aspal Suffolk Cider and a curry. While in the pub I opened a card from Helena and my Mum and they both brought a tear to my eyes. I said my goodbyes to Christina (see you ...

This is it, all packed and ready to go.Just on the train travelling down from King's Lynn to Sawbridgeworth, changing at Cambridge, with my two rucksacks (yes two!) quickly realising that trying to get through doors and train barriers is very tricky and sure to be a skill I master very quickly. These aren't the smallest and lightest of bags and I am bound to get fed up with so much stuff that I bet I decide to ditch some weight during my first week in Chi...