Somerset Hotel Beijing

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... Beijing shot. We then went into the Forbidden City behind it. This is the largest and best preserved group of ancient buildings in China and was the home of the 2 dynasties of the Ming and Qing emperors. The city was built from the 15thcentury and adde3d to over the years and now has been restored heavily no doubt like all the sites in Beijing for the Olympics last year. The palaces ceremonial buildings and the grandest lie on a north south axis and as you pass through massive gates ...

... it's beautiful. <br><br>After the museum we went to walk around Hou Hai (the lake that we had walked around before with all the bars and restaurants. We got caught in some serious traffic and it took us so long to get there. Beijing traffic rivals LA, I swear. Jenn's student had the idea of going on a boat in the Hou Hai lake and eating dinner. Apparently you can get on the boat and make your order from a preset menu and then a guy ...

... out) as we didn't really know what would be nice then his mate brought another type out fresh from the oven so we had 3 of those too. So we had 16 party things in total and it came to 16 yen (£1.60) you would pay that at home for 1. Happy days ! We ate them at the hotel and discovered that the fresh hot ones were filled with spring onion garlic and egg, and all the others were sweet (very sweet), I got a cavity just looking at mine. After lunch we then ...

City The Forbidden City Like China itself, the Imperial Palace in Beijing has come a long way in 600 years. Once the home of Emperors of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, it now houses a Starbucks. Fortunately, alongside the encroaching commercial enterprises, the terrible grandeur of those bygone empires has been preserved within its massive walls. The more than 800 buildings ...

... from the market we went to a small Chinese place which was full of locals and basically you are given a large silver mixing bowl with ginger, coriander, chilli's and other spices and just pick your meat or vegetable you want going in it. This was a very flavoursome dinner and very cheap - but you defiantly knew you had eaten it the next day!! Our final day was spent just chilling out at the hostel - preparing for our night train journey in a hard sleeper, travelling to Pingyao.

... boys wore shirts with fake 6 packs drawn on - ha ha! The next day we went got lost a bit looking for a super market that sells western food then met everyone and got on our train that would be our home for 23hours. The train was a lot better than I expected even though it was 3 person high bunks and 6 in a room, it was a little squashed but clean and fun. We had a lot of fun and I slept well - it is a fact that I can sleep ...

... Beijing on January 31, 1949, where Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1st of that year, with Beijing as its capital. The 1950's were a boom time for Beijing and China with much welcomed stability and prosperity. Then Russia started to get too eager and Mao lost control of his senses, initiating the conservative Cultural Revolution, an economic, agricultural, artistic, and ...

... skirts which I don't think will look very good or prove in the least practical for clambering along a stony wall for 4 hours! After being all shopped out we returned to our wonderful hostel to enjoy a meal in the courtyard which they cooked in their restaurant. It was great. We were lucky enough to find the lounge area empty after that and decided to watch a DVD.... so all in all a lovely day and a really chilled out evening....here's hoping for more of those! ' '

... a little crush on her after she'd told him she "loved him" at dinner the previous night. Apparently, you can't kid around about those things. He asked her if he could be her boyfriend for the rest of the tour, and by the end he was even talking to her about going to visit him at the University of Michigan, where he was planning to start graduate school in the fall, and also going to visit her in California. He was cute and incredibly sweet, but she just wasn't ...