Beijing in true tourist style

Keer and i arrived back in Beijing after a 48 hour train journey on hard seats (i kid you not, but the less said about that the better) and parted ways. I swapped travel partners to Chris and we set about doing all the tourist activities that Keer was fed up of doing. So in no particular order here they are:

Forbidden City- I was pretty amazed by the size of it after not taking the word "city" seriously. Not quite how it was depicted in Mulan, but still very impressive. If you walk down the centre there are several massive sets of steps leading up to a big gatehouse, but down the sides there are little alleyways to walk down, and a park in there as well.

Beijing Zoo- Obviously we went for the pandas which were really cool, despite the massive hangover i was suffering with. Two of the younger ones were having a fight which involved a fair bit of face slapping, it was highly entertaining, especially compared to the older pandas who just sat around eating. I'm now bursting with facts about pandas, but i'll save them for when i get back- something to look forward to for you.

Great Wall- It seemed simple to get to, just catch a number 91 bus to the last stop, unfortunately there about 10 number 91 buses, all going to different destinations, and naturally the one we wanted was the last one we checked. However we arrived and set about walking the Badaling section of the wall, after about half an hours walking most other tourists gave up and by the time we made it to the end there was noone else there. Despite being more of a climb than a walk in most places it was totally worth it, great view and sense of accomplishment.

Peking Duck- Delicious, enough said.

Summer Palace- This was a massive palace set in huge grounds with a lake in the middle, definately fit for an emperor. We rented a pedalo, just because we're that cool, no realising how much effort it would be. It was a very middle aged experience, walking around the grounds and by the palace, but still worth the trip.

Beijing was just as fun second time round, though in a different way, not being able to speak the language we had to come up with some hand gestures to get what we wanted across, which i'm sure made us look hilarious to the bystander. Next stop Vietnam.