Well we are finally on the Trans Siberian Express and all is well. Whilst we were queuing to board I noticed that there was a small orderly line of respectable looking passengers. Now our usual fellow passengers when we are travelling on public transport are the great unwashed who are carrying their worldly belongings with them, so I was quite surprised. We were shown to our cabin by our happy Russian Guard (NOT!!) and too make matters worse as he was guiding u...

Well today is our last day in Beijing and we set off tonight on the Trans Siberian Express to Moscow so we spent a relaxing day in the hotel. Now some facts about our China trip: We have travelled: 603 miles by bus; 2,500 miles by train; 32 miles by taxi; 200 miles by luxury boat (NOT); 10 miles by canoe; 110 miles by metro; and 30 miles on a sightseeing bus. We have eaten 30 pots of instant noodles; Learnt to use chopsticks in 10 minutes (it's amazi...

Today we are off to get our last fix of fake shopping. I had done my research beforehand and found the best Beijing Market to go to. Got there quite late and it was absolutely hectic with as many shoppers as shop keepers (and each shop has at least 4 even though their shops are no more than 8 foot square!!) Anyway to cut it short Beijing fake shopping is a huge disappointment compared to Shanghai as the choice is very limited and the quality is nowhere near as go...

Today we are off to a Beijing Theme Park Nick has found on the internet. I am a bit apprehensive as they do not seem to have any Health & Safety in place in China so am thinking it could be a ploy by Nick to have me knocked off!!! Although why he would want to do that I do not know as he often says how much he has enjoyed spending the last eight months with me day and night. Anyway it is once again absolutely freezing out so I have upped the anti and am now w...

Today we are off to Tian An Men Square and the good news is it is not snowing, the bad news is it is blowing a gale and is about -5. I was pleased the snow had stopped as getting about has been quite hazardous. The snow hazard however has now been replaced by the new hazard of people sweeping up leaves they are everywhere and so are their brushes!! Now for some reason the Chinese do not like leaves on the pavements and today there are a lot of leaves due to the h...