On a bicycle build for two... Day 25 - 29/10/09 - Xi'an (China) Our sleeper train arrived into Xi'an just before 9am. We then followed the sea of passengers to the exit of the station and met up with our next tour guide, Andrew. We transferred to our Xi'an hotel for breakfast & check in. Our first stop for today was the Terra-cotta Warrior factory which makes replica Warriors out of clay from the same region that the original Warriors were made. Of course,...

Sure, Yeah, Uh-hu - Michelle's 3 favourite words... Day 23 - 27/10/09 - Beijing (China) Today we got up early and had breakfast before our driver took us to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This section of the Great Wall is further away (about 1.5 hours from our hotel) than the Badaling section that we went to a few days ago. Mutianyu has 2 chairlifts to get to the wall, and a toboggan to get back down. There is also tracks to walk to the wall, but where is the fun...

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...