What a surprise! Another delayed flight!! This was I wasn't too surprised about as not only was pollution looking pretty poor but it seems like all our flight have a delay of some type in china.

Landing was the strangest experience as there was nothing but dense smog for all of the descent. I could only see land about 20 seconds before we landed. The taxi system was a bit better organised here so managed to get in the meter taxi queue and get to our hostel for a decent price.

It was still chilly at -3 but it felt so much warmer than before. We were invited to join their family meal which was perfect timing as it was about 7.30pm when we arrived. It was really yummy and we met the others staying at the hostel. We booked a hiking tour of the wall for the next day. Sy wanted to spend his birthday doing something cool so this fit the bill!

It was an early pick up at 6am but a small group so it was to be a good trip. After 3 hours driving we got to Jinshangling and the Great Wall of China! The little stomp up the hill to the wall killed me, not sure why but it just seemed to knock me. Once up there it was lovely. I was slow going but that's nothing new there! It was stairs up, stairs down along the mountain ridge. There was snow on the mountains and on the wall which made it look even more special. We spent 3 hours exploring the wall then it was back down for lunch and the drive home. We were going somewhere nice for a birthday meal as you can't come to Beijing and not have duck (well unless you're veggie!). The hostel had recommended a duck restaurant and off we went via a few shops.

We found the place and it was crazy. The entry was at ground floor but we were told to take the lift up to 5th floor. We were directed past rooms and rooms full of diners with chefs carving up duck. We eventually reached our room and were seated at a table. There must have been hundreds eating here but the organisation was seamless. We were handed an iPad menu to choose from. Just as well as the set menu started at £60 and went up into the hundreds!! We went for simply roast duck with pancakes, sauce & filling. Some duck soup & dumplings arrived free of charge! The duck head arrived on a separate plate and apart from the obvious meat which we are the remains stayed firmly where they were until the end of the meal!! It was beautiful and we all enjoyed.

The next day was Alan's last day so after a good old mooch around a local market we headed to the forbidden city. The size of this place is much much bigger than I thought it would be. Lots & lots of different rooms, corridors & courtyards. It's hard to imagine the place as it used to be with the emperors & all his people in original dress walking the halls but I bet it looked amazing.

We'd been told about a good restaurant by us that we thought we'd try out. The menu was fantastic. Ever thought of trying '3 kinds of explode', 'egg served with blue green algae' or 'chicken with disabilities' then this place is for you!!!!

In amongst the randomness we found some food we'd eat and it was really tasty! A few beers there and a few beers home and it was time to pack up again. Alan was heading back to Blighty and we were moving across the city to another hostel.