Both of us were awake earlier than we would have liked this morning: dad just can't get his clock turned around and once he is awake the noise wakes me up (see earlier blog for explanation). Down to brekkie at 06:30am and then left for the drive to the Great Wall at 07:00. The reason we left at this hour was to avoid the traffic and also the crowds. It worked a treat and we had a very smooth trip up and there were hardly any people there when we arrived. The souvenir shops weren't even open!! Once we saw it dad decided it would be silly to even try to go far as the steps are so steep and so high: whilst going up is hard enough, coming down is really, really hard on the joints. He went up the first rampart and then turned back and had coffee and did a little shopping. I managed to climb up to the level of the first watch tower, which wasn't a vast distance but left me with a severe case of jelly legs! The step size is what really gets you. The drop probably averages 40cm so it really is hard on the legs. It was an amazing feeling being there and treading those steps that would have been trodden by soldiers who must have faced not only the physical trial of the climb, but also the weather, and the small issue of an attacking foe! And they would have done it in heavy leather armour, laden with weapons. Truly a tougher breed than me! At the bottom again I had a coffee (a mocha and not too bad!) and after a few more photos and a bit of a chat with some of the group we headed back down to Beijing and to a jade shop, or more accurately a jade emporium! Whilst I am not normally a fan of such obvious shopping traps, this one was really amazing. The artistry involved in producing the many different forms is stunning. You will have to look at the photos to see what I mean. I bought a couple of items and then we went upstairs to have dinner, which was excellent and of the usual form except that today the soup had meat in it and was served first instead of last!

We left there and drove to the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium and the Water Cube. The concourse that runs between these is just enormous. It appears to run for a couple of kilometres, with the stadium and swimming centre being situated on opposite sides around the middle of it. Not really much to say about the bird's nest, other than that it was impressive and I was reminded of the MCG in terms of outright size (they hold similar numbers of people also). The water cube is beautiful but I would love to see it lit up at night and to see the inside but unfortunately we were unable to enter either building.

After that we returned to the hotel via the CBD and had an extremely slow but interesting trip. As I said before the architecture here is quite amazing (have posted one photo I think). The CCTV building has to be seen to be believed. It consists of two enormous shiny buildings of peculiar shape which are joined by another building which is literally suspended in the air between the two of them I will try and get a photo and post it at some point as it is impossible to really describe it. We then had a quiet time before heading back out to dinner and then on to the kung-fu show at the Red Theatre. This was really good and it told the story of a young monk who is left at the monastery by his mother and eventually ends up as the abbott. It is a sort of kung-fu musical and quite unique, as well as famous. It was really enjoyable and well worth the $40 odd dollars that we had to pay (it was an optional extra). We returned to the hotel by around 9:30pm and I have uploaded the photos and am now heading for bed (dad is asleep already).

In answer to a few queries:

• we haven't seen anyone eating dogs or seen anything that could possibly be dog meat (I am sure there are areas we could, but not yet!)
• we have seen a few pet dogs wandering around with their owners!
• I still have no further info on the London cab!
• the seats on the plane on the way to Singapore were not good because we needed to be closest to the isle. It really is a pain on a long flight having somebody you don't know between you and the toilet, or simply blocking you from getting up for a stretch! Note to self for future reference!
• the flight from Singapore to Beijing was almost as rough as I have ever been on. It literally rocked and rolled fairly violently, continuously for several hours. The Boeing 777 is a beautiful aircraft though, and the seating room is exceptional and the best I have experienced.

p.s. Lauren, your brownies made it all the way to Beijing with us and granddad has now eaten both of them (yesterday and today)! He said to say thank you, they were delicious! Please send more.

p.p.s. I forgot to mention that I called Sue from on the great wall! It seemed like it had to be done!

Catch you later.