Did manage to see a bit of the centre of Beijing on the Thursday morning. I shot out of the hotel after an early brekkie and headed for the Forbidden City. It was a very pleasant hour’s wander through the old buildings (despite the scaffolding that covered most of the buildings being renovated), and the commentary given by Roger Moore on the audio guide made it all the more special.

I made a speedy return to the hotel grabbing a lift from a guy on a bicycle (a tuk-tuk?). Wasn’t sure if this was the common form of transport for Beijing city, probably not as I didn’t see another one for the whole journey. I was undoubtedly ripped off even though I managed to beat the price down from 20yuan to 8! It was fun though and I felt like a real princess. Back at the hotel I packed my luggage (that I had only arrived the night before) and grabbed a taxi to the airport.

It was an interesting three days in the city, which from what I saw could have been any modern metropolis. There were plenty of shiny new buildings, shopping malls and cars. I’m sure had I hunted hard enough I would have caught a glimpse of the old China. Next time I’ll head out to the countryside, where I am assured the real China is still very present.

You’ll be proud of me guys, I was quite adventurous with the food tasting. Besides the western crap they served up in the hotel I managed to get my hands on some roasted prawns ?heads and legs and all, peking duck (pancake style), roasted duck heads (!) and my favourite ?braised eel!!!! Japan airlines kindly supplied me with endless sachets of Japanese nuts and crackers ?yummy! At least it kept me amused on the shitty return flight which ended up taking 21 hours in total.