Beijing - Day 1

We're in Beijing with the rest of the FD/CFO Centre crew from all over the world.  Lovely to see them all again and meet some new faces who weren't able to make it to Amsterdam.

First on the agenda today was a visit to The Great Wall.  We went to a part of the wall that we'd not heard of before and can't say I would recommend either! But nonetheless, I tried to make the most of it, as it was a first experience for some and very special.  

I took this group photo and they happily posed.  The climb up to that first fort was strenuous and painful, as the steps were extremely uneven and quite hard.  I stayed with many who didn't want to venture further, so thankfully Martin was free to race up there.  He climbs steps and mountains on a regular basis in Discovery Bay so is super fit!

Back down again and a lunch at a nearby "tourist" restaurant.  Enough said. I just feel like our group didn't get a chance to taste REALLY nice Chinese food and sadly declined from eating most of it.

Back in the coach, into more traffic, and heading to Hutong Village.  Martin and I had never been there before, and we were excited to see it.  We all had rickshaw rides and enjoyed being driven around to see as much of the village as possible.  We also visited a traditional house where we got to paint Chinese opera masks.  

Back to the hotel to freshen up and then head back to the Hutong for a Chinese banquet in a famous Opera singer's house, Mei Mansion.  It was a private kitchen in this mansion with a courtyard.  Exquisite dinner, great company and a lovely evening stroll through the Hutong.