We've compeleted the Trans-Siberian Express!

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We join the train in the morning ready for a day and a half trip from Mongolia to China with a midnight border crossing. We see other travellers for the first time. We learn that this is because this train from Mongolia to China only runs once a week. The border crossing takes about 5 hours in total - there is immigration and customs in both countries. During this time we also change the train's wheels! The guage of the Chinese trains is approx 10cms les than the Mongolian and Russian ones which means that we have to go to a bogey changing shed and have the bogies (or wheels and wheel bases) changed - maybe more of that from B later - certainly lots of video and photos. I awake early and can't get back to sleep so sit on the corridor and look out of the window. The scenery is still quite 'deserty' and there as some snow although no solid coverage.

As time goes on the scenery become more rocky. I get off at one of the platforms and it feels quite wierd to think we are in China. We stop for a 20 min stop and it is amazing as the weather is really warm! Everyone gets off the train wearing t-shirts and sandals (plus jeans etc I hasten to add). We (I) buy a beer its 10 yuan which is about 70p. Everyone is really giddy in the warm sunshine as most people have travelled through very cold climates. This feels especially strange having seen snow only a few hours earlier.

We then get our first glimpse of the Great Wall which is so exciting - just a brief view of it up on the mountainside. We travel alongside it for about 15kms. We have a lovely carriage 'man' who makes a real effort to tell us when we are about to get a view of the great wall - at one point he literally ran up the carriage to tell me to get my camera ready. This approach and interest is at a total odds with the experience of the equivalent guards through Russia. I take a photo of him as we leave the train - we have arrived in Beijing!!

We have a few days in Beijing where we basically 'catch up' with ourselves, write thank you cards and explore the city. Our first impressions are that it is warm, very modern and whilst not much English is spoken, people are friendly and the road signs and many menus are also written in English. It's really exciting to actually be here. After the horror of Russian and Mongolian roads (as a pedestrian) it is really wierd to have 'ushers' with flags and whistles who help you cross the roads. I'm sorry to say that I have fillet of fish and large fries several times before I am brave enough to eat the local food which the guide books say is difficult for vegetarians.

The China Tour

Days 1-4 Beijing 16th-19th April

Met the rest of the people at 6pm with whom we would travel through China - good mix of people 3 Brits (including us), 1 Irish, 2 Scots and 2 Aussies. Begin to get to know one another over a Chinese Banquet. I was delighted to find that there were lots of veggie options. We eat until we were stuffed, drank lots of cold beer and it only came to $2.50 each ($ = pounds in this journal as no pound signs on Chinese keyboards).

The following day we see the Great Wall up close. Wow, what an experience! After a 3 hour drive from Beijing, we spend a full day walking (and climbing) towards Simatai. The wall is an incredible piece of engineering, it stretched westwards over 6000km from Beijing. It was originally constructed to protect the Chinese from the Mongolian barbarians of the north in the Qin dynasty approx 200 years BC.

The views are stunning and we experience both restored sections and unrestored sections - the latter were hair-raising to say the least as we scrambled up crumbling sections with sheer drops either side. We stopped for lunch and pondered the enormity of the wall, debated whether it was visible from the moon (apparently the first Chinese astronaut confirmed what NASA has been trying to tell the nation for years which was that it wasn't) - it is vast in length but quite narrow)

We descend for ages until we get to a suspension bridge where certain conditions (including
mental illness) could preclude one from crossing according to the 'Chinglish' sign. (Chinglish is English written by the Chinese, which can result in some bizarre signs). When we are on the last lap we see a flying fox station (where you can be strapped into a harness and then let go to slide down a wire). It cossed quite a large stretch of river at quite a hight and we both decided we would do it courtesy of some money kindly given us by Greg. I tried to take a photo mid-descent which was rubbish as my lens cap swung in the way. Great fun! Thanks Greg! At the bottom we rewarded ourselves with cold beers - something that was going to become a habit at approx 20p a bottle.

The next day is free - I spent most of it writing thank you cards and Brendan goes exploring and interneting/CD burning.

Day three commences with a tour of Tianneman Square. It's the biggest square in the world and is able to hold up to 2 million people according to Kevin (our Chinese guide) and infamous for the 1989 student uprising. He relates that the mas...... involved approximately 600 students and actually took place outside of the square. It is full of Chinese tourists taking photos. It is surrounded by official buildings, Chairman Mao's mauseleam and the Forbidden City. I read somewhere the other day that one policitian who opposed military responses to protests within the square at the time, is still under house arrest in the capital.

We then entered the Forbidden City which until relitively recently had been closed (forbidden) for 500 years. It is a vast place and was deliberately the highest part of Beijing until the fairly recent highrise. Even now these are not visible from within the City. The Emperors used to live here with their concubines, and whichever concubine was the first to give birth to a son would give birth to the Emperor's successor. This practice was said to lead to poisoning amongst the concubines to prevent a rival from bearing the first son. Concubines were highly respected and also political as having a concubine from a given area or province would cement a relationshiup between the emporor and that province.

The strangest part of this tour was that the nephew of the last Emperor (who was overthrown in the 20's) was at the city in an 'art gallery' room painting calligraphy and we were served tea in front of him! It was really surreal - he didn't communicate with us except to indicate that he didn't want us to take his 'photo , so we just sat at a round table in front of his desk drinking tea!

Our next stop is to an organisation that supports youngsters and adults with learning difficulties, which is suported by the company we are touring with. We enjoy a lovely lunch, a fantastic show of singing and dancing with the finale being a chinese calligraphy lesson, where we learnt how to spell our names and draw our Chinese star sign in Chinese characters. We brought these away with us and also purchase a few souvenirs (possibly Christmas presents). The place was very well run and had a very happy atmosphere, we both agreed that my Dad (Alec) would be very interested in it. On the way out we shared a 'hacky- sack' game with them (a sort of shuttle cock, but bigger) that is kicked from person to person. We enjoyed this so much that we bought several at the first opportunity.

Later that day we enjoy a riskshaw ride through the Beijing Hutongs (traditinal old sidestreets) and a lovely if comparitavely expensive beer on a rooftop terrace in the area near the river prior to arriving back at the hotel for a 7.30pm departure for our next destination - Xi'an.

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