Got woken up by a TV in our cabin that suddenly burst into action at 8am and was impossible to switch off. We arrived in Shanghai around midday and took taxis to 'The Nanjing Hotel' where we were staying. After a quick shower, Leah took us for an orientation walk. Our hotel was in a great location - really close to the centre. It was also great to have a non-smoking room as the hotel in Beijing reeked of past tenants. We walked up and down the shopping street, ...

Met most of the group at 8am and caught a local bus to the gardens surrounding the Temple of Heaven to watch the Chinese doing their morning exercises. One of the strangest but most brilliant things I have ever seen. Every morning (and evening) loads of people flock to the parks to take part in group exercise. This ranges from ballroom dancing to diablo throwing. What we had previously assumed to be children's play areas turned out to be adult outdoor gymnasiums,...

After skipping the hotel breakfast in favour of supermarket snacks we met the rest of the group at 9am and set off on the 10 minute walk to Tian'anmen Square. It is even bigger in real life than I ever imagined and was swarming with people queuing up to see embalmed Chairman Mao at the mausoleum. We pushed through the crowds - a sea of brightly coloured umbrellas (for shade rather than rain protection), shouting tour guides and souvenir sellers - and reached th...

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. ...

Woke up at around 9.30 - was so pleased I'd managed to sleep for 12 hours. I'd decided the hotel breakfast was a bit of a rip off so I picked up a map and headed out. I walked to Tian'anmen Square and caught the metro to the Temple of Heaven. The metro system was extremely user-friendly and all stations are announced in English. No problem! I arrived at the right metro station, and walked around the perimeter of the gardens to the north entrance. The temple buil...