After a flight which seemed to go on for ever thanks to the limited choice of movies and the terrible coffee available on board we have made it to China!!

The first thing you notice when you arrive in Beijing is the smog, I'm told its at its worse in summer but its bad enough to make Middlesbrough look like a polution free zone..

The second thing that hits you is the traffic, I've never been any where so busy and the locals are all nutters.. Lane discipline doesnt exist and we've already seen mopeds and taxis drivers using the foot path to avoid the traffic jams.

After a brief moment of horror as our taxi driver swerved in to a tiny back alley we arrived at our hotel, we were pleasently suprised at how clean and comfortable it was!

After a couple of hours of relaxing and a quick shower we met up with the rest of our group and our tour guide and headed out for dinner. We got our own private room and shared several Chinese dishes amongst the group and had a couple of beers to wash it down with, it came to about Y30 each and was pretty good for 3 quid!!

Big day tomorrow as we head up to the Great Wall, so having an early night to catch up on some much needed sleep.