China

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Hello from the chilly china region!!

Sorry we havent been in touch we havent forgotten you just the internet is hard to master here, either its slow, or the computer is in chinese and we cant intertpret- also facebook doesnt work here so no pictures yet i am afraid but finally we are on to say hello. We are currently in Shanghai after 24 hours of travelling by trains we arrived at our hotel where we were directed to the VIP checking in on the 31st floor- we have a delux room and it was gratefully recieved but enough what have we done so far....

Beijing

Having arrived at our hotel we found out how to say thank you first order then slept the rest of the day well iut was 8pm. We woke up refreshed (no jet lag) and went ot the forbidden city and tianamen square. The forbidden city was not too crowded and the buildings were beautiful- amazing they kept this under lock and key and amazing it was still allowed to be there- if it was england council flats would be positioned between the temples agaes ago! The place was lovely as a chinese lady came up to me with her camera i though she wanted me to take a picture of her family- however next thing i know i have her little boy with hisarm round me smiling at the camera- I was thew attraction- wierd as ther was so many beautiful buildings around. (later i found out that for the chinese tourists the forbidden city is sometihng they will only see once or twiced in their life as is a foreigner so they see it as a privaledge and have to take a picture- also blonde is unusual).

We also went to the Olympic park where the grass smiles at you! It was very quite and after many photos of the park and of us we went home on the subway at 20p a ride. We then moved to our hotel (where it soundeed like a war zone evry night due to the fireworks) to a hostel in a hutong- and it was so lively you couldnt help but feel welcome!!!

So we went to the Great wall and it was amazing- we took a cable car up (a ski lift) and then walked from gate 6 to 1 a less tourist part to see the original wall and up the steepest stairs in the world- but the view was worth it. We then took a tobogan ride down- who thought of that was brilliant and probably drunk at the time.We then went to the Ming tombs.

Xi'an

Then onwards to Xi'an where we met 2 americans and 2 english friends, we had a great night and the city was lit up due to the new year. We went to the teracotta armies- unbelievable- cant explain how astounding it is- oh and it wa snowing- we also saw 'fox' fur -(it was alsation dog) but hey. The next day we went to the Jing di Tombs in bright sunshine- it cant not be reached by public transport so not many people go which is a shame as it was so different from the mings tombs amd so so so so worth it.

Shanghai

Now we are in shanghai- supposed to be going to Hong Kong on friday or sat but the train is all booked up so at the moment we are trying to change flights and see if we can get to thailand from here- travel here is so much FUN!!!!

Anyway sure we have bored you enough we will try and upload some photos

Love Cassie and Charlie xxxx

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