We're in Beijing, we're in Beijing, we're in Beijing!! (our Beijing song)

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Hey guys!!

I'm reallly sorry for lack of contact so far! We have been immersing ourselves in Chinese life and getting on the internet here is such a ma fan (new Chinese word we picked up, helll yes we're speaking Chinese! It means a hassel)! So now you know we didn't die on the way here, although we were pretty close after 27 hours of travel.. Our knees were destroyed from sitting on the plane, but we made friends with our first travel buddy who was in fact Chinese although spoke Queen's English. He was called Zin. I told him he sounds like a Tekken 3 character. He may not have been so impressed with that.. ANYWAY! So China!! Brief overview of things we've been up to:

Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City!!!

Absolutely incredible! The square is the biggest in the world and teeming with tourists. We saw many militants goose-stepping around as well giving it that communist feeling. The only difficulty being there was the immense heat and no shadow cover in sight. We were also constantly asked to have our photos taken!! I have never experienced anything like it, complete strangers come over to us and ask if they can have a photo.. At one point we had sat down and had a queue of Chinese waiting for a photo! Hilarious. Facing T. Square is the Forbidden City. This to me epitomised China for me. The buildings are just fantastic!! And it's colossal, it took a good 4 hours to do the tour around. I couldnt help thinking of Mulan the film as I walked around.. Truly amazing to think that 24 emporers had once ruled the whole of China from where we were. That was our first touristy trip in Beijing. We then sampled real 'street food' which is like no other type of food I've ever tried. They love their garlic and spices, my favourites were this spinach and peanut salad in a vinegar based sauce and fried aubergine in a sauce I can't even describe. It makes my mouth water even now! YUMMEH!

I will update on further tourist attractions very sooon! Enjoy the photos I put up. I hope you're all doing really well 😊 We're both loving life to the max out here in Beijing!!!!

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Photos

Finally in Beijing with YURYYYY!!!
This is straight after our 27 hour flight.. Nearing exhaustion

My favourite Chinese beer, Tsingtao!
Got off the plane and went for a nice cold beer!

Becoming famous in China.
One of the many groups of Chinese that lined up to take a photo with us!

Comments

[Xin]

Glad you're having fun
Stay safe :)

[Malgosia Phillips]

Wow!
It all looks amazing! How lucky you are to have this amazing experience! Enjoy the rest of your trip. Mama xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx