Had a wicked time in Beijing especially with the very glamorous Miss Collins! In between necking cheap Mojitos for 25 yuan(£1.50!) and stuffing our faces with Chinese food at least twice a day, the three of us managed to squeeze in most of the big sights! We spent an afternoon getting lost in the Forbidden City, which is China's largest load of ancient buildings and where the Ming and Qing dynasty emperors hung out with their thousands of concubines. Shamefully ...

Hello all, Just a quickie, having a great time in Beijing, we are all in a really nice hostel with a traditional courtyard on one of Beijings hotongs (winding lanes). Its really humid and hot so have been taking it very easy, we were due to do the wall, but the weather was miserable on the day so will head there next week instead. Checking out the Forbidden city and an old part of town with hundred year old medicine shops and antiques tomorrow, hopefully work...