On our last day together in Beijing, we wandered around Beihai park during the morning then visited Wangfujing shopping street in the afternoon where everyone spent their last pennies. We went to a lovely restaurant in the evening where the non-vegetarians amongst us had Beijing duck! On the Saturday, it was an early start as we got the airport shuttle bus to Beijing International where Mum, Dad, Ceri and Bethan were to fly home. Little did I know when I left that 8 hours later and after some rather unpleasant experiences, they would still be on Chinese soil due to a delayed flight (engine problems). After further waiting around in an airport hotel in Helsinki, everyone arrived home safely quite a bit later than expected at Manchester. All in all though, a great trip! Thank you and see you next year 
Day two required an early start and we all clambered wearily into a bus at 6:00am to head off to the great wall. The section we visited was a two hour drive from Beijing but there being no shops on the wall itself, it was quite clear of the major tourist routes and so it was a fairly peaceful spot. We got the cablecar up and walked for a good few hours in the sweltering heat before getting a speedly ’street luge’ back down to the bottom again. If one thing surprised me slightly, it is just how steep the wall is at some points. After a shower and some food, we headed out to the shops where the girls did some bartering. We also managed to find an off-the-beaten-track monsoon factory outlet which someone had recommended where they sold the current range of monsoon clothing at 75% off the UK price which kept Mum and Bethan happy!
After the forbidden city, we made it back to the Red Lantern Hostel who had kindly booked some tickets for us to go and see an acrobatic show. The show was spectacular with a real mix of acts; juggling, contortionism, ribbons, poles, ropes…! It was exhausting enough watching it as every second you fear that somebody might get something wrong and come to a sticky end…
If you come to Beijing then this is something you have to see!
After the initial uncomfortable nights stay at the Tibetan Lodge (name and shame them), the rest of our time in Dali was great. We stayed at the MCA hostel where we had a quite spacious suite to ourselves. Whilst I would argue that Dali itself is not a great place (especially when you have just visited Lijiang), it is a good place to establish ‘base’ and then head out to other places during the day. We had a couple of lovely walks in the mountains as well as a quick whizz on some bikes and a ferry tour on the lake. We also found a lovely place to eat, called the sunshine cafe, which we visited religiously for breakfast and dinner every day. Best of all was the cafe we discovered on the last couple of days which was run by deaf people and which made the most amazing cakes and coffees I have ever tasted!
Jono
