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Another rather large breakfast started the day. Our first stop was a jade factory. Very expensive so no purchases were made, but they did have this rather interesting carved ball with balls within balls, all made out of one piece of stone. If I can find a cheaper alternative (i.e. not 300 GBP) I will let you know!
We were then shown to some peach 'groves'? Peaches are the main fruit of Beijing so I suppose it was only polite! The main attraction of the morning thereafter were the Ming Tombs. These consisted of underground tombs, rather similar to those of the Egyptians (obviously minus the hieroglyphics and mummies...). There were several tomb areas, spaces for the emperor's personal effects, and throne areas.
Lunch was the usual variety of dishes...and then...it was time for The Great Wall. Despite the heat haze, the views were fantastic and the steps very steep! We made it to the third fortress and decided to give it a rest after that. It would have been great to spend a whole day there but the heat was so exhausting, or should I say the humidity was, that we were lucky we only had several hours there in that respect.
After that, we were absolutely knackered. The prospect of tasting the Beijing nightlife has been put on hold for a third and final night running. We've just been worked too hard by our HK tour guides - it's a hardcore 8.00am till 9.00pm day, with no holiday spirited siesta!
Tomorrow sees out final day in Beijing before flying back to HK. One thing I must say is that the architecture here is absolutely amazing. I'd definitely come back purely for the buildings, especially once all the builds have been completed following the Olympics. We've seen the Olympic stadium and the neighbouring ..... building whicl looks like a flattened silver egg. Simply superb!
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