Hi everyone,

We are currently in Xian after spending a week in Beijing and as this is the first time i have had a chance to sit down, i thought id make the first entry into the blog...

We landed in Beijing Airport early on 16th August. The airport was really nice. We thought we'd get a cab to the hostel as we didnt want to mess around with buses after a long flight. We had a bit of difficulty explaining to the cab driver where we wanted to go and having a map with the road signs in the English language didnt help much! Luckily there was a phone number on the map and the driver called them and told us it would be "ok". It took about 20 minutes to get to the hostel and we were charged 500Yuan (this is about 40 quid). We thought at the time that this was expensive and this was confirmed later when we caught a cab for about the same amount of time and we were charged the equivalent of about 2 quid! We went out for a walk and realised we had absolutely no idea where we were going and thought it worthwile to invest in a map. We found an area of Beijing that had lots of bars and restaurants and thought we would start there. When we got there we saw elderly Chinese people ballroom dancing on the pavement to music played out of a loud speaker. This was weird but funny. Then we saw some kids playing keepy ups with a little toy made out of feathers and tin. They asked us if we wanted to play and we accepted. It was good fun but we were all rubbish and the kids were really good. We had dinner and went to a few bars and got back to the hostel about 4am. As we walked into reception the plain clothed "security guard" was asleep on a sofa. We got our key from him and all went to bed safe in the knowledge that if a mad man were to walk in to our hostel, im sure that the high level security would get to him first...

The next day we went to Tianemen Square and The Forbidden City. When we got to the square we were approached by a man selling watches with a picture of Chairman Mao on the face of the watch who waves to you every time a second passes. He wanted 15 quid for it and i managed to haggle him down to about 6 quid. However i realised over the next 2 days that even this was too much as the next day the strap broke and the day after that it stopped working. It was fun while it lasted. As we were taking pictures we were approached by lots of Chinese people wanting to have their picture taken with us. This was a bit weird but we accepted as they were very pleased to see us. This happened alot throughout the day. Tianemen Square was good and it felt strange to be standing under that big picture of Chairman Mao. That night we went out and managed to get into the Dutch Olympic party. Everyone there was wearing orange and we did stick out like sore thumbs but somehow they let us in. The dutch were really having it but as we were a bit tired and not Dutch we had a few beers and left.

The next day we went to the Temple of Heaven. We got the subway there as this costs about 10p for a single journey to anywhere in Beijing. As we walked in to the temple there were lots of Chinese people singing and dancing and playing traditional Chinese games. The temple was really nice. We bought one of those feathered keepy up toys to practice our skills for the next time we bump into some kids playing it. I obviously hadnt mastered the skill and kicked it high into a tree. We tried to get it down by throwing our bottles of water at it. The Chinese people found this very funny and a crowd had gathered. A man came over to help and he eventually got it down for us. I have noticed from this trip that the Chinese people are really friendly and always want to help. That night we went out to an Irish pub to play darts and pool. We met the New Zealand team that had just won bronze in the cycling. After the pub we went to a club and met more athletes. Mike and Chris had their pictures taken with a GB athlete and his gold medal. I missed this and now realise that I have never chosen a worse time to go to the toilet.

A couple of days later we went to The Great Wall of China. This was amazing. The views from the wall were unbelievable and even though we were hassled and victims of daylight robbery by some Mongolian people (i bought a fan for 6 quid and a t-shirt for a fiver, bearing in mind this is alot of money in China, and i didnt want either the fan or the t shirt) it was superb. At the end of the Wall we all did a zip line that took us over the water and back to the bus. This has been my favourite part of the journey so far.

We have also been to The Lama Temple to see where the Buddhists go to pray. When we got there people were burning incense and kneeling down to pray in front of the temple. We bought some incense and did the same (well we knelt in front of the temple). I hope the other God doesnt get jealous. We got to see where the Dalai Lama sits when he teaches to the monks. This was a good experience but spoilt slightly by so many tourists. I realise i am a tourist myself but with there being so many around it did take something away from the experience. After that we went for some traditional Chinese 'Monkey Tea'.

On Saturday we caught the train from Beijing to Xian. We managed to get a 4 man cabin together which was good. Although we were in seperate cabins at first but we managed to persuade a couple to move next door so that we could all be in the same one. The cabin had 2 bunk beds and tv's for each bed so that was good. We travelled at night so i slept for about 6 hours of an 11 hour journey. As i woke up we were pulling into Xian station.

So thats about all for now. Its 19:40 on Monday as i write this and we are all hungry so we are just about to get something to eat. We have been to see the Terracotta Army today but ill tell you about that next time i get a chance to do this again.

Hope you are all good.

Nick x