Another big day to day as Frank seems intent on us seeing everything that Beijing has to offer..

We start by taking the tube to the Summer Palace, unfortunetly me, Sandy and a couple of others got seperated from the rest of the group and ended up getting off at the wrong station! We found a helpful Chinese lady who let us use her mobile and the problem was quickly solved by Frank. Later, whilst boarding the tube to Tiannamen Square Frank was keen to ensure that we all made it on board but thanks to doors closing very quickly we all ended up waving to him as the train departed with Frank still on the platform!!

The summer palace is an incredible place, so much history and so many things to see.
The highlight of the summer palace has to be the dragon boat ride across the lake. Although walking along the worlds longest corridor (700m) with its vivid blue, red and gold colouring and taking a stroll through the many gardens attached to the palace were also very enjoyable.

From the palace we travelled to Tiannamen Square (spelling??), we didnt stay for long but we where there long enough to be awe struck by the incredible size of the place! it streches for as far as the eye can see and is flanked by several massive buildings.

From here it was short walk to Forbidden City, the city is made up of several courtyards and numerous buildings all of which consisted of a red top with gold features. We saw the quarters for the emperors many ladies and a four star rated toilet!!

By this point the heat and humidity had sapped everybodies energy and it was time to head back to the hotel for what seemed like shower number 500 of the holiday!!

In the evening Frank took us to a Hu Tong,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutong, for a look at the traditional chinese way of life.

After this a few off us decided to catch a taxi to the Olympic Village, sadly the gates were being closed as we arrived but thanks to Sandys quick thinking (using an article in the newspaper to show the taxi driver where we wanted to go) our taxi had arrived on the side of the village next to the water cube and despite not being able to enter the village we got to enjoy the fantastic light show.