24/10/2009Day 19 - Beijing: Zoo & Aquarium Today we headed to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. The zoo was almost like any other zoo, expect that it wasn't as nice as the Melbourne Zoo; the animal's enclosures were more like cages, sometimes with little vegetation. The highlight was the panda exhibit; we spent a long time watching the pandas. My favourite was one panda who was slumped over like a rag doll; he was trying to lick the ground with his long tongue (I...

23/10/2009Day 18 - Beijing: Sleep in and WashingAfter the past few days of getting up early and sightseeing we decided to take it easy. Mum and Dad slept until 9am got up and had breaky and then slept some more till 11am. When they finally woke up Mum did the washing in the bath. It was very funny to see, she put our clothes in the bath added some laundry detergent, which she bought the night before at 7/11. Filled the bath with water and then stomped around in i...

22/10/2009Day 17 - Beijing: New Hotel and Getting LostToday we moved hotels - thank goodness. Although the last hotel was nice enough the hot water wasn't very hot, and they were doing renovations on the floor above us so it was quite noisy. It took a half hour drive to the new hotel. It is amazing the bed is king size, it has a couch and 32" plasma TV, desk with its own computer, the bathroom has a bath and a shower rather than a shower bath as all the hote...

21/10/2009Day 16 - Beijing: Great Wall, Ming TombsToday is the day, I can hardly contain my excitement, we are going to the Great Wall!! I wonder if we will see any rabbits? Wow, the wall is amazing it goes on and on and on as far as the eye can see in both directions. The part that we walked on was very steep. Some steps were so big that Dad had to lift me up and Mum's legs could just get her up. We climbed to the first tower and the view was breathtaking the mo...

20/10/2009Day 15 - Beijing: Summer Palace, Market, Acrobatic ShowThis morning we visited the Summer Palace, it is 4 times the size of the Forbidden City! The Emperor used it for the summer only. Everything in the Palace is so ornate; all hand painted and carved it is really beautiful. In the gardens the emperor ordered Kunming Lake be built - it covers 2.2 square kilometers and was entirely man made. The excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill which is 60...