1st August 2008

Had some yoghurt for breakfast, I'm not exactly sure why I wrote that down in my notebook, but it must be of vital importance. Went to Tiananmen square today though most of it was off limits due to the Olympics and whatever craziness they need to do, we saw an athletes team, though can't remember where from, possibly Jamaica or south Africa. Very odd security at the actual square where they would look through chinese people's possessions for books and paper that might contain anti-government propoganda and the such like.

Next went to the Forbidden City which is just across the road, and until last year (maybe) had a Starbucks in the middle. Apparently there was an outcry, so they got rid of it. And replaced it with their own generic coffee outlet. City itself was cool, though possibly not quite as impressive as I imagined, though I guess I have seen a lot of similar places by now. It was exceptionally big though and we got a bit tired walking all around it.

Afterwards David took us to a special needs school, in the winding back streets of Beijing, that Intrepid sponsor. We had an explanation of their work and then watched a performance put on by the students there, good fun! From there we walked to the main pedestrian shopping precinct, the long way round, and found a pacific coffee company to chill in.

In the evening we got some wine and had a drink or two in Martin and Liz's room before heading off to have our final dinner, in a traditional Peking Duck place. Very scrummy, and the chef comes out and cuts up the duck in front of you. It also happened to be Liz's Birthday, so we celebrated that with cake and magic. Finished off the day with a few more drinks. Good times.