Beijing and the Great Wall

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We arrived bleary eyed at Beijing train station, having taken the overnight train from Xi'an. We were greeted by the sight of blossom being blown around in the wind, giving the effect of a snow shower. One of the first things we noticed was that it was a lot drier here. Also, storms in Mongolia were bringing in lots of sand in the wind which played havoc with our contact lenses.

After a quick shower in the hotel, Margaret the tour leader lead us out on a tour of Tianaman Square. The square is absolutely vast - a sea of paving slabs as far as the eye can see. Slap bang in the middle of the square is Mao's mausoleum, which was shut for renovation (probably for the building and the body). Apparently it takes about 2 hours just to get a quick peep - not something we would have wanted to do in any case. The square is surrounded on two sides by huge Communist style buildings (the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum) and ends with the entrance to the Forbidden City, marked by a huge portrait of Chairman Mao.

The Great Wall exceeded our wildest expectations

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We then spent a good four hours, exploring the vast Forbidden City - the largest royal residence that has ever been constructed. Buckingham Palace looks like a bungalow in comparison.

You walk into the Forbidden City through a series of huge gates and courtyards, walking in the footsteps of the Mandarins who made the daily journey so many years ago. One slightly disappointing thing was that some of the grandest palaces were covered in scaffolding, in the process of being renovated in time for the Olympic Games next year. However, we still found plenty to see and do. You could wander around the courtyards and corridors of the Forbidden City for days.

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The city is blessed with a number of stunning parks. We visited the Summer Palace, Houhai park and the Temple of Heaven Park and were absolutely blown away by their beauty. It was springtime, the flowers were out and the trees were coming out in blossom. The spring is a great time to visit Beijing. We also got to meet up with Catherine's second cousin Steve and his wife Angela for a fun afternoon out and a delicious dinner of Beijing duck!

After seeing the main sights in the city our tour group set off to Mutianyu to see the Great Wall of China. For me, this was the most impressive sight of them all. It is incredible that such a wall could be built over such rugged countryside. We stood on top of the wall and could see the wall snaking over the surrounding mountains - an awesome sight. We wandering up and down the wall for a few hours in the sunshine before finding a nice spot to have some jam sandwiches.

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This was the real highlight of our China tour. We saw so much in only ten days - and there is so much more than I could have written. It was an absolutely amazing tour - can't wait to come back again someday!