After leaving 'The Summer Palace' we were driven round to Tianamen Square. This vast space's only purpose now is to be the home of Chairman Mao's mausoleum and to provide somewhere for the Chinese people to pay homage to their hero! So much care is taken over the space we had to pass through a security checkpoint with electronic baggage scanners before we were granted entry. A few young soldiers march up and down the square in pairs, just seemingly keeping watch...

We started off the day at The Summer Palace. This is effectively 'The Emperors Garden'. Spanning over 72 hectares in the middle of the city, a lake dominates the center. We walked through the main entrance, guarded by trees that are over 300 years old, (we knew this because they had red labels, as opposed to green labels that are for trees of between 100 and 300 years old) and very large, mounted lumps of volcanic rock. The Chinese symbols of Turtles and Cranes...

We both woke up at 4 this morning, jet lag having got the better of us. No matter, today's a special day - our 20th wedding anniversary. We opened our cards and presents at 7am - we waited till then because thats midnight in the UK so that makes it officially our anniversary in both China and at home. Karron got me a small heart with a cherub on it - I got her a fine bone china trinket box and amazingly, the heart fits inside it perfectly - the chinese believe ...

After leaving the Mutianyu restaurant, we drove to a traditional Tea House in Beijing. We then enjoyed different types of tea made for us by a professional tea girl. We tried Oolan tea with Gensing, Jasmine tea, Black tea, Lychee and Rose tea. They all tasted wonderful and it was clear from the whole setup that this is a very serious business for the Chinese. Interestingly, the tea house was also a government run institution and at the end of the tea ceremony, i...

We landed at 9.30am local time on the dot! We both said it was one of the smoothest landings we've ever had. Had a good chat with the purser on the flight, a guy called Tim who's been working the Asia flights for many years. He gave us some good advice about haggling in the markets & he also recommended visiting the Silk Market, although he said that the Pearl and Russian Markets are also good. He also recommended a local run restaurant called 'The Red Lant...