Beijing - 23 October 2011

Today was the highlight of the trip for me - the Great Wall.

We drove an hour or so out of Beijing to the section of the wall we were going to climb. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be and was definitely an amazing experience. Like everywhere in Beijing there were masses of people trying to make the climb, but thankfully that thinned out the higher up we got. Unfortunately the weather was pretty ordinary (cold and rainy), but while I started the trip up with many layers on, I ended it in a t-shirt (as it got very hot on the way up)!!

On the way back into the city we were taken to a Jade factory where we also had lunch and then a very quick stop (because it was raining and freezing) at the Olympic site to see the birds nest and water cube.

After lunch we headed to the Copy Markets - a huge indoor market that sells (you guessed it) copies of everything. In particular Louis Vuitton - I'm pretty sure I got asked a couple of hundred times in the span of an hour if I wanted a Louis Vuitton handbag (I think it may have been the only English words some of them new)!!

It was then off to an acrobat show before heading to our final dinner for the trip. This is the one I had been waiting for - the Peking Duck!! What we didn't realise was that they were going to feed us a whole meal and then bring out the Peking Duck. Nevertheless I still managed to fit in quite a few pancakes (they were definitely worth the wait too)!!

Here are some pictures from today:

Great Wall

Olympic Site

Beijing - 22 October 2011

This morning we were taken to Ti'anamen Square and the Forbidden City. The number of people in both these places was insane.

After spending all morning in both these places we were taken to the Hutong Village where we were provided with a traditional lunch in a family home and heard some of the family's stories. After lunch we took a rickshaw ride through the Hutong Village.

It was then on to the Temple of Heaven before heading back to the hotel for a rest.

Dinner was (you guessed it) traditional Chinese (although by Beijing it was starting to be a bit more like the Chinese we experience at home) and then it was off to a Kung Fu show.

Here are some pictures from today:

Ti'anamen Square

Forbidden City

Rickshaw Ride

Xian to Beijing - 21 October 2011

For our last morning in Xian we were taken to the Wild Goose Pagoda. We were able to see the locals practicing Tai Chi in the park and were taken to a shop that did Chinese calligraphy on paintings.

After this it was off to the airport to board our flight to Beijing.

Upon arriving in Beijing we were greeted with smog (and a lot of it) and the weather for the afternoon was pretty ordinary. We were taken to the Summer Palace - which would have been really beautiful on a good day.

Here are some photos from today:

Wild Goose Pagoda

Summer Palace

Xian - 20 October 2011

Today was one of the highlights of the trip when we headed to the Terracotta Warrior museum. This is the site where the Terracotta Army which was uncovered in the 70's by some farmers (the main one was actually there on the day). The figures date back to the 3rd century BC and were said to have been built to surround the first emperor's tomb and protect him in his afterlife. There were three pits that we were able to walk through which allowed us to see the various stages of restoration.

It was an amazing site and hard to believe how they were created so long ago and in such masses (although given it was a few thousand years ago, they probably had a lot of time on their hands back then!!).

Lunch was at the museum and was really good - we were able to try some of the local noodles and dishes.

After lunch we were off to the Chinese History museum (another boring museum)!

Then we were taken to the city wall area - the city wall in Xian is completely in tact and the round trip is 14kms so we were only able to walk along a section of the wall.

Before dinner we walked through the local Muslim quarters (where there were endless street food stalls) and then it was off to dinner.

Tonight's menu was Hot Pot - apparently a local tradition - essentially was a make your own and without proper instructions was pretty disastrous! This would have to have been the worst meal of the trip - thank god for the honey oat bars I packed and bought with me!!!

Here are some photos from today:

Terracotta Warriors

City Walls