China...

So the trip begins with first stop Beijing! Landing at Beijing airport first thing you notice is how clinical it looks, White from ceiling to the floors and glass windows all around. It also becomes clear that English is not spoken at all when asking how best to get to our hotel.

 
On arrival at our hotel and first time we'd stepped Outside the first thing we noticed was the smell, chinese food and cigarette smoke lingers on the roads and thick fog filled the streets.
 
After a few hours nap we decided to brave it and hit the streets, walking through Beijing you notice the Chinese have one thing very much in common with the Indians, they love to stare. Over time you get used to this, even having a few people trying to take pictures of us like paparazzi to celebrities. This soon became apart of our new celeb status!
 
First day Ne thought he'd take me right to the heart of it all with a walk down the food street showing off all the typical cuisine you have heard about but have still not prepared yourself to see. First stall selling the likes of live cockroaches, centipedes and scorpions. I was already feeling a bit nautious from the smells and then these sights were abit too much. The Market was also selling the chinese delicacy of sugar glazed deep fried fruit sticks..which again looked interesting but after seeing the deep frying my stomach just couldn't handle.

So after an little stroll around we moved on to a nicer part of Beijing Shishahai Lake  - known to the  locals as where the younger affluent hang out , stroll around the lake and enjoy some dinner and a few drinks in the bars. Ne also managed to find gold, and find a shisha bar with live music which was the perfect way to end our first night in Beijing.