At the end of 2010 China calculated the highest population in the world with a total of 1,339,724,852. When arriving in Beijing, we didn’t really know what to expect but what we saw we loved. The city is huge! The streets are long and wide and due to being so busy .

We noticed as well the amount of smog in the air. We rarely saw the sun in the days we were there.

WE stayed in a beautiful hotel called Hotel Mongolia. It is about a 10 mins walk from Tienanmen square and the forbidden city (located across the road from T square). These two sites are huge tourist attractions, mostly Chinese tourist mind you, and the few times were saw it, it was always busy. Every morning and afternoon there is a flag ceremony which draws huge crowds. We went for the flag rasing in the morning and to be honest weren’t that impressed and believe that if time is of importance for any visitor – this can easily be missed.

What can’t be missed is the Forbidden City. It is a terrific monument that dates back hundreds of years and many dynasties. It too is always busy but if you get a map and don’t bother with a guide, it is still nice to wander around despite the crowds. Entrance is about $10USD per person. Allow half a day.

While we were there we were approached (and inevidably every tourist is) by a person trying to sell you a tour to the great wall and other attractions. We spoke to the first one that approached us but didn’t go ahead and then played the second person who approached us against the first. They will give you a speel about their tour being the most legitimate and proper but they are all the same…. They all take you to the same places more or less. So we suggest you bargin hard for a good price on the tour (and make sure they pick you up from your hotel).

Before we had driven out of the dirveway of our hotel with our Great Wall tour our guide ask us for her tip up front and told us that as Chinese person she likes 6 and 8’s so she recommends 60 or 80 yuan per person for her as the guide and a seperate but similar amount for our driver. This would have added up to more than we paid for the tour. We kindly told her that we generally tip after we have been on the tour… We did tip her but not nearly the amount she wanted because quite frankly she was pretty ordinary but more about her later.

The Great Wall of China is very impressive. It was built to keep the Mongolians in particular Gangas Karn out of China. Even though it doesn’t form the border between Mongolia and China. We arrived at a particular spot that we were told was a great place to see the wall because there will be fewer tourists than other vantage points. What a load of trollip that was. We were like sardines at one point as we walked along the wall. Although the further we walked and the more stairs we tackeled the less people we encountered to the point where we were alone and the mist was sweeping through the valley – this was an amazing experience.

After the Great wall we visited the tombs of someone and then somehting else and then comes and sales meetings. We