We have spent the last three days in Beijing. It has been very hot but we were lucky enough to see two days of sunshine and blue sky. Our tour of China came to an end and so we had to fend for ourselves. Beijing is very tourist friendly since holding the Olympic games and so is easy to get around, especially by subway. We visited the Summer Palace which is where the emperors used to go for a holiday in the summer. It is very pretty with a large lake but was ...

We have also been really busy in the last week and have spent the last couple of nights on the train. Today we arrived in Beijing and now we are staying in a motel near the 2008 olympic stadium where we have free internet. On monday we went to a place called Chongqing (sorry about spelling) and went to the zoo, most of the animals are the same as in NZ zoos, but we were able to see a sleeping panda - sprawled out with its legs in the air, and lots of monkeys. Lu...

Just letting you know that we are safely in Beijing. Will update with details soon :)

Quick update from iPod. Internet hard to find. Spent day in Chongqing, then three day cruise on Yangtze river which was awesome. Now in Xian, saw the terra-cotta warriors which are amazing. Rode around the city wall on rickety old bikes, 13km in 80 min. More exploration of Xian today, then sleeper train to Beijing. We have two free days in Beijing so will upload photos and give more detail then. Bye for now!

Yesterday we went on a cruise on the Li River for four hours. The scenary was pretty amazing how ever the sky was very hazy and cloudy so we couldn't see very far. Went to a small town called Yangshao which was interesting. We went for a walk at night and saw the pagodas lit up. It felt surprisingly safe wandering around late at night with kids out and much happening. We had dinner at a very busy restaurant at midnight where they spoke no english. Smoking i...