So, I did a bit of shopping for China today. Which got me to thinking about how Nicola and I have essentially based our trip around wonderful ancient cultural Chinese sites, but haven't really factored in time, or planned our shopping experiences (somewhat unusual for the pair of us!). So I looked up places to go in Beijing....

Think our number one aim will have to be to head to the Silk Market (apparently not just full of silk but also everything you can buy in the UK but without the labels on, so super cheap!), as well as Chinese souvenirs, and you have to barter 'aggressively' (according to lonely planet). Having been to Marrakesh last year I think we can both probably hold our own, but it's definitely a new challenge to add to the list! I might need to go and get a bigger rucksack.....

Gemma x