Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of updates on here we have been in China and our blog website was restricted so we weren't able to access it.

First things first, China is quiet possibly the hardest country we have ever travelled through. We did expect it to be slightly different and a bit unfamiliar, but we were quiet shell shocked by what we found. We have previously said that we found Sri Lanka hard as a country, well China is a completely different ball game. This isn't to say we havent enjoyed it, but we feel the need to explain China as a country before talking about what we have been up to.

China's history is so interesting, with it being one of the earliest civilisations to be formed and many more amazing discoveries. But it is also full of blood thirsty invasions, famine and war. Sadly the war and starvation caused people to become enclosed within their family groups and the circle of people they trusted, this was in order to survive, so they adopted a every man for themselves outlook. As you would in those situations, so strangers were ignored because they were not part of their key group. However, this outlook has become deeply embedded within the culture so when you first arrive in China you actually feel very alone and isolated. All the social etiquette that we have learnt is completely different or devoid here, for example they don't smile, they would smile at their family and close group of friends but not with someone on the street or someone who helps them. This one completely threw us, we didn't realise how much receiving a smile back from someone we didn't know meant to us before we got here. Other differences include eating with mouths open, burping loudly after eating, littering, talking very loudly, excessive pushing, queue jumping, spitting and being rude to each other. All of these things began to form a negative opinion in our heads of Chinese people and we assumed that they were rude and disgusting in the first few days.

Another huge issue to us at the start and even at the end was the staring. We can understand a few people having a little look here and there we are tourists at the end of the day. But this staring is a lot more intense, men and seniors tend to be the ones that do it the most. They don't look away when you catch their eye or if you stare back. They definetly do not stop if you smile at them or nod their way. It sadly came across as threatening and being disgusted by us. We didn't feel comfortable and constantly felt on show and nervous. But after some intense research online we were able to get a better outlook on China and its social norms. The people stare because the country only open its gates to tourists in the 70s and there are many parts of China that tourists do not visit due to it being such a huge place. Some of the older generation are still not used to seeing western people in their country, we look, talk, dress and smell different and we also do crazy things like smile at every stranger we see and let people off the train before boarding. As much as China is a different place to us we are also very different to them. They look because they are curious, its because they don't smile back as reassurance or acceptance that make its uncomfortable for us.

The one thing we have learnt is that we cannot judge them, just because we are western and don't push people about or jump to the front of the queue doesn't mean we have any right to say what is right of wrong. It's hard to remember and its taken us 9 days of researching and reminding each other when we are out to not judge and just accept the country how it is. The people arent rude they are just different. As tourists we are representatives of our country and the western world,the last thing we should be doing is getting angry at people or pushing back, not to say we didn't at the start. Our minds have been changed about China, although we still find it hard to accept everything, we can understand why. China is a fascinating and wonderful place, but you have to be willing to accept the differences and be open minded. If your interested this website explains it more and we found it very helpful.

http://www.china-mike.com/chinese-culture/understanding-chinese-mind/in-out-groups/

Beijing is our first Chinese city to explore over the next 9 days.

We woke up after 5 hours sleep and headed to the Forbidden Palace using the subway. The ticket machines where simple enough with the English options and the subway links across town all run on time. The palace was packed! We have never been to a place so busy, it has around 80,000 visitors a day. It's not just foreign tourists either alot of the people in the crowds are Chinese visitors. Just imagine the crowds leaving a football game, now imagine that the whole way round the palace route It was hard to escape all the people, but we tried to find a quiet area to rest and enjoy the view away from the crowds. The building is fascinating its completely unlike anything in western world, it is ginormous with lots of separate buildings devoted to different things like pottery or writing rooms. A small stream runs through with bridges built over them. The wall around the palace was as high as a two story building. It's fascinating to think how old the property is and it only recently being open to the public. The photos do it more justice.

After our early start and a lack of breakfast we had to get some food from the supermarket and head back to our hostel, we were so exhausted that we both fell asleep on the bed for another 3 hours. We popped to the bar later for dinner as the hostel wasn't in the best location to go out at night and headed to bed early for the great wall the next day.

The Great Wall of China was amazing to see once we found a quiet-ish stop to sit down and take it all in. We had a hectic train ride over with nowhere to sit in a packed train. Once we arrived we took the cable car up to the top, which cut away some of the crowds as its the expensive option to get up. The views were beautiful as its up in the hills and autumn here so the leaves are changing to orange and red. Once on the top it was confusing to navigate especially with all the people but we hiked on up steep steps and seriously steep hilled sections with a hand rail for support. It's not an easy walk round! Once we stopped the realisation that we were in China, a country neither of us expected to see hit us. We headed back on another packed train and booked our tickets for our long train the next day to Xian. We also explored a nearby mall with lots of shops in and we found Gloria in a fish tank reincarnated into an even bigger goldfish!

We got back just before dark and relaxed in the room before getting food later in the bar. A couple we'd spoken to the previous day were at the bar and they've travelled all over so we grabbed some hints and tips for the next legs of our journey in Vietnam and Thailand. They were great to speak to, plus they had travelled around Sri Lanka and stayed in the same home stay we did in Ella with the lovely couple. It's a small world in the end!

In comparison to the next two cities we explored we found Beijing the hardest. It was a mixture of it being the start of the culture shock, people being more busy and it seemed a more a Everyman for themselves environment. Not very welcoming to a first time visitor.