Saturday was one of our free days, but with the group, so we opted to take a guided tour around the Forbidden City and Tian'amen Square. We were a little anxious that we'd feel too held back - we'd got to grips with Beijing and felt confident enough to look around ourselves, but to get the history and background from our guide Vivien was much needed. We learnt all about the Emperor and got our heads around the different Dynasties which at first, seemed quite confusing. The Forbidden City is absolutely massive, and to think that just one Emperor and his immediate family (and as many as 30,000 mistresses) were to live there alone, must've been pretty lonely! Tian'amen is amazing, incredibly vast. One of the adjacent buildings holds the tomb and body of the deceased Mao Zedong and we overheard one South African man who had queued up for an hour and a half, just to see his body for 3 seconds. Beijing today was a lot busier - probably because it's a Saturday. And a lot colder too, we were wearing three layers, and a scarf, and were still chilly!
After Forbidden City we broke away from the group and walked right up to the top of the hill in the park at the far end of the City. We could see the entire complex and truly appreciated the scale of it - and the comparison between that luxury space and the surrounding areas. Pretty good panoramas of the entire city too! That night we went to the aformentioned Kung Fu show, which was like a cross between a panto and a west end show. It was basically the story of a man, told through Kungfu - and parts were in English so it was easier to understand. The only thing that let the show down was a group of 6 or so English girls sat in front of us, who were perfect examples of how English tourists get a bad name. They were drinking far too much, throwing things, shouting, talking, all the way through the performance, and annoyed all of us! Needless to say we think they realised we'd been annoyed, as they made a swift exit at the end!

Sunday (today) is our last day in Beijing, which is pretty sad. We really feel like we've got used to the Chinese way of life already, the ease of it, the climate and the time difference! We have seen and done everything that was on our list though, so we're pleased about that. Today we went to the Silk Market, as recommended by Will. It's a lot like Camden, and full of clothes - which Claire liked! However, the haggling and bartering is absolutely shameless. They reel you in with the most overthetop compliments, 'oh you're so beautiful, so skinny, so handsome, so strong, Uk? LOVELY country! Price just for you, today,' and actually grab hold of you and force you to make a lower offer if you don't like it. It was decided that Claire 'is boss', as she really couldn't be bothered to be pressured into buying anything, and Liam got a warm jacket from 1250 yuan down to 150, so it seems our tight wad tactics worked!

Tomorrow brings Great Wall, and more updates next week! Sorry there's so much to read at once!

Lots of love xxx