We had a full day to explore Beijing by ourselves before our tour started. We decided to have a wander around the various shopping areas of Beijing as these weren't going to be covered in our tour. Our hotel wasn't very central so we used taxis to get around. These were very cheap despite the fact that they usually took very indirect routes to each destination to bump the fare up. We went to a couple of shopping centres and walked along Wangfujing Avenue which is supposed to be like Bond Street in London - full of designer shops.

We covered quite a lot of ground on foot but wherever we walked we were constantly harassed by taxi drivers and cycle rickshaws all wanting to take us somewhere else despite the fact that we were almost always looking in shop windows and it should have been obvious to these touts that we were quite happy where we were.

Our tour started the following day when we were taken to the massive Tiananmen Square where we had half an hour to look around and take photographs. Our local guide couldn't openly talk about the massacre that occurred there in 1989 for fear of being overheard but he did talk about it when we were on the coach. We were expecting him to sympathise with the students and speak out against the military action that took place but surprisingly he didn't. He certainly didn't condone the use of arms against the students but he did believe that the students' demonstration had to be stopped before it gathered too much momentum. He said that China was willing to change towards a free market economy but it couldn't change as fast as the students were demanding without millions of people dying from widespread famine that would ensue.

We were then taken around the Forbidden City which was very big indeed and definitely deserved being called a city. Unfortunately, we didn't spend anywhere near long enough inside. Our guide just led us around the highlights and concentrated on the life of the Emperors. It had all obviously looked very majestic in its day but it was unfortunately looking a little run down when we saw it. We didn't get much free time to wander around by ourselves. Instead we were whisked off for a brief visit to Beijing Zoo to see their pandas before having lunch.

Our afternoon started with a tour of the Emperor's Summer Palace. It was the middle of March when we were there and an icy wind that blew across a lake made us understand why the Emperor only spent summer there! This was our first encounter with the souvenir hawkers that were to feature at most of the other places we visited. There were a lot of people trying to sell copies of Mao's “Little Red Book” and they weren't cheap! They started at around 150¥ (£11.50) but we managed to haggle one person down to a much more reasonable 20¥ (£1.50).

Probably the highlight of the day's sightseeing was our last stop at the Temple of Heaven. The central round building (shown in our picture) looked very impressive both inside and out.

After dinner we were treated to a performance of Beijing Opera (Peking Opera). This was definitely an experience but not one we would want to repeat too often! Symbolism is very important in Beijing Opera which is usually performed on relatively small stages with very little scenery or props. We had been briefed about this symbolism and the various gestures that might take place and what they would mean. For example: somebody walking around in a circle was actually supposed to be going on a long journey (click here for a more details of Beijing Opera). For anybody who was still confused about what was going on, the theatre we went to also displayed electronic subtitles by the side of the stage which summarised what was happening.

Now, for anyone who is still wondering why we didn't seem to enjoy this cultural diversion, you obviously haven't heard a Beijing Opera. Trust us. It sounds absolutely awful! There is obviously something fundamentally different about what sounds pleasing to the Chinese compared to Westerners as they obviously enjoy what we can only describe as unmelodic screeching. We were quite relieved when it was over.

The following day we headed out to see the Great Wall of China (which you can read all about on the following page). On the way, however, we stopped off at the Ming Tombs, which are about 30 miles north of Beijing. This is where 13 of the 16 Ming emperors are buried. The tombs are reached following a fairly long walk along the Sacred Way. This is path is lined with 24 statues of assorted animals and 12 statues of humans. The dead emperor would be carried along this path by his successor to the tomb area. Only two of the tombs are open to the public and we went in the one which contains some of the treasure excavated from the area. This was housed in a magnificent hall but unfortunately photography wasn't allowed.