Arrived safely in Beijing



The trip was just fine - a slight delay in Bournemouth when we had to change coaches for some reason, then the fliight out of Dubai was delayed for 3 hours - but apart from that all ok.



Oh yes a bit of trouble finding the hotel - the street map and the tube map could be better if you understand me.



On our first full day we went to Tienaman Square - its very big - but also lots of people - one of the buildings was closed - as you probably recall its the olympics next year so lots of work going on. For the evening we went to the famous Peking duck restaurant - it was very good - though there was a queue.



Yesterday we set off to walk the Great Wall at Badeling - yes very busy lots of tourists but well worth it - as we went on public transport we had some difficulty as we needed to catch bus 919 - but there are dozens of 919 routes - eventually got it after much walking around.



The wall itself is pretty big - and very steep we went up in the cable car then walked one way then the other - oh and John we got your magnet...... In the evening we had sort of showboat meal - dipping in meat in a soup mix - really good.

Today 1st September we went to the Forbidden City - it is huge - too big to do in one day - but we did as much as we could before we were exhausted. Finished off the evening with a similar meal to last night - but a bit different.

Anyway we are both well - though exhausted and we will be staying in Beijing another couple of days - so will post some more soon.