Hello, Hello!!Last day in Beijing - flying out to Sydney tonight and then an internal flight up to Brisbane (13.5 hours flying time - aaaargh!!)Spent the last 2 nights at Sheraton (thanks to Alex and his staff rates!) - very luxurious and huge! It's in a completely different area to our other 1 (it's in the foreign embassy area - so lots of western people about), not near touristy things which was fine as we had done them all, but lots of nice restaurants...

Things we won't forget about BeijingEveryone staring at usEveryone hocking up gunk and spitting it out everywhere - everyone u pass spits on the street!The hawkers selling Beijing Olympics 2008 souvenirs over a year before the Olympics startRunning away from the Rickshaw men who also want to take u somewhere even if it's only 5m down the roadAll the old ladies trying to steal ur water bottles before you've finished drinking them- think they collect th...

The Great Wall @ BadalingWe got up at the crack of dawn this morning to visit the Wall. We were going to go to the Simitai section as it is less crowded because it's so steep - u have to climb it on all fours so we thought we were up for that but decided we couldn't handle the 4 hour bus journey to get there so decided on the touristy spot at Badaling.We are so glad we went for the easier option as the Wall at this point was still pretty damn steep - lots...

Tiananmen Square & Forbidden CityWent to both Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City on Friday. The Forbidden City is a huge palace and village within guarded walls and was the home of of both the Ming & Qing emperors, it separated the imperial (rich) households from everyone else.We also went to Jingshan Park and climbed in the boiling heat to the highest Temple which has amazing views of Beijing. Here, we got into the spirit of things by getting dressed up...

We have arrived safely in Beijing, and have sussed out the Mandarin language already - ok not quite, but finding our way about!Staying in a nice Novotel not far from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.First trip on the agenda, i think is The Great Wall of China - just need to figure out how to get there! Think we're going to venture out to the less touristy part of the Wall called Simatai but it's about 4 hours away and has vertical climbs where u ha...