Early start this morning - had to catch our bus to the Great Wall at 7.30am. Went down for breakfast at 6.30, which was a bit scary at first as the only familiar thing we could find was toast with jam and a cup of coffee. Once I'd settled my stomach I thought I'd try to soak up a bit more of the culture and try some fried rice, a few noodles, a couple of sweetcorn fritters and what was labelled 'breakfast sausage' which I think (*hope*) was sweet and sour pork.

After breakfast we met the rest of the group and boarded a small private bus to Mutianyu, a less tourist-ridden part of the Great Wall. It took just over an our to get there, driving towards the outskirts of Beijing.

After disembarking we walked up a souvenir-stall lined pathway to get to cable-cars that would take us up to the wall. The five British girls shared a car, it was quite a steep and jumpy journey, but we were told not to be scared because both Bill Clinton and John Major had ridden in these cars before and it didn't do them any harm.

Once at the top we began our trek along the wall, it was hard work and incredibly humid but worth it for the views - absolutely beautiful. It helped that it was quite a misty day so the mountains had a mystical look about them. The worst bit was a steep incline of steps you have to climb to reach the highest point. Lucie and I got there first but collapsed with exhaustion and couldn't appreciate the views for the first five minutes we were up there.

After a little rest we headed back on ourselves and then along a bit further until we reached the toboggan run down the wall. So much fun and a great way to speed up the journey back to the bus stop!

Once we'd finished the toboggan run we headed to the only restaurant at the foot of this part of the wall - a subway! Who would have thought I'd be eating an Italian BMT at the foot of the great wall of China... shows very aptly how far China has come in recent years. After lunch we boarded the bus back to the hotel, where Abi and I found a very amusing chinese dancing version of the X Factor to watch while we were cooling down - yet another sign of modern China.

At 6pm we met up with the group and went for an orientation walk lead by Leah. We walked up to Wangfujing (the shopping district I visited yesterday) and were taken to the night market on strict instructions not to buy anything (as it would make us sick). The night market in Beijing is a street lined with stalls selling all kinds of dead things on sticks, including snakes, scorpions, eels and spiders, as well as other types of street food. The things that looked most appealing to me were the fruit skewers dipped in molten sugar (a Chinese variation on the toffee apple) and the 'bubble tea' - a soft drink with a small amount of dry ice at the bottom which causes it to bubble like a potion whilst you drink it. I begrudgingly followed Leah's advice and left the bubble tea well alone, secretly wondering whether I could get hold of some dry ice myself and try this at home.

After the market, 8 of us headed to a food court to find dinner. I think the night market had successfully put most off Chinese food for the time being so we ended up at 'Mr. Pizza' a restaurant with the delightful slogan: 'love for women'. We weren't really sure about the relevance of the slogan, but the vegetarian pizza I shared with Lucie was pretty decent. We certainly felt loved. I'm a bit disappointed we're eating so much western food, but I'm sure that will change when we leave Beijing so I guess I'll be fine with it for now.

After dinner I took Lucie, Richard and Abi to the market I visited yesterday to look for souvenirs, it was packed with Chinese tourists and after a quick wonder we headed to the supermarket (tonight's lucky dip drink: jujube juice, verdict: delicious) and then back to the hotel to bed.