Hello Money! Day 21 - 25/10/09 - Beijing (China) It was a lazy morning this morning, before we headed to a bakery for lunch. After a delicious lunch, we headed to the subway and made our way to a large market for some bargaining. Today was a successful shopping day with many bargains all round. We have figured the best way to get a sale is to walk away and have them shout at you to come back. Jess was referred to as "Hello, Money, come back Money!" ...

Day 19 - 23/10/09 - Beijing (China) This morning was spent with our bathtub being used as a washing machine, and our bathroom becoming a Chinese laundromat. The cost of the hotel doing your laundry is rediculous (you may as well throw out your clothes and buy new ones), so we decided to do our laundry the old fashioned way. The end result was clothes hanging everywhere in our bathroom! This afternoon we wandered down to the subway and made our way to a shopping...

Day 17 - 21/10/09 - Beijing (China) Today was to be a big day... We were in the hotel lobby at 8:30 to meet Michelle for our trip to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. On the way to the Great Wall, we stopped in at a Clisonne factory, where they make vases, plates and various other objects out of copper and enamel. It was very interesting to see how these are made and the time it takes to make them. We arrived at the Great Wall at about 11am, and it was very cr...

Ni Hao! Day 15 - 19/10/09 - Beijing (China) Today was a 9am start with our tour guide, Michelle. Our first stop was to be Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square was quite large and had decorations and huge TVs around as there had just been a large celebration held there at the beginning of October. The Forbidden City just kept going and going and going. Every time we thought we had reached the end, there was more to come. This is understanda...

Greetings from China! Day 13 - 17/10/09 - Ferry (Japan-China) Today was much the same as yesterday afternoon, and involved relaxing, playing cards, and sleeping most of the day. The meals were not great today, and not being able to eat much left our stomachs not very happy. The weather was very cold and windy, not like the weather we had been used to in Japan. This made for rough seas and a great deal of swaying for 24hrs. Day 14 - 18/10/09 - Ferry (Japan-Chin...