Precursor to the Tour

We have arrived in Beijing a couple of days ahead of the tour itself so that we have the opportunity to get un-jet-lagged and see a few of the things that aren't included in the tour itself.

For starters, we took the new Airport Express train from the airport to downtown Beijing on the assumption that this would be quicker than taking a taxi. As it turns out, the Paralympics are due to start next week, and the road traffic is still light - so the taxi would have been quicker.

Too much Peking Duck is barely enough

Beijing is a fabulous tourist destination - easy to get around and a lot to see and do. A quick summary as follows:

Day 1: Set out to go to the Summer Palace. We were walking along the road and a local couple approached us and wanted to practice their English. So they took us on a guided tour of one of the hutong areas, including a visit to a local tea house which included the full ritual. After that, they showed us to the bus station where we could catch a bus to the Summer Palace for the princely sum of 2 yuan (about 40 cents). Spent the rest of the day at the Summer Palace then caugh the bus back to Tien An Mien square - only 1 yuan for the return.

Day 2: Organised a driver and car for a tour to the Ming Tombs. Generally the Ming Tomb tour is thrown in with the Great Wall tour (which we will do as part of the formal tour), so we had a lot of difficulty in explaining "only Ming Tombs". The look on their faces clearly said "If that's what the crazy foreigners want, then that's what we'll do". Which we did. In the evening we went to a duck restaurant.

Day 3: A visit to the Temple of Heaven this morning, followed by a subway trip to the north to visit the Jing Shan park that overlooks the Forbidden City. It's quite a climb, but the view is worth it. In the afternoon, we met up with the rest of the tour group and all went to a local restaurant.

Day 4: Group tour of Tien An Mien square and the Forbidden City this morning. The rest of the tour group went to the Temple of Heaven in the afternoon, but we went to the Llama Temple instead. Group dinner at a duck restaurant in the evening - apparently too much duck here in Beijing is barely enough.

Day 5: Early breakfast then everyone onto the bus for a trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu (ahh... maybe these crazy foreigners know something after all). More climbing up steps, but well worth the view.

Day 6: Our last day in Beijing and it is raining. We do a quick trip on our own to the Silk Market, then in the afternoon we join the tour group for another tour around the Summer Palace. It is well worth the second visit, as it is too big a place to take in in one visit. In the evening everone is back on the bus for the drive to Beijing West Railway Station to catch the train to Xian. This promises to be quite an experience...