The Great Wall at Badaling

In Beijing, we stayed in a flat belonging to Mummy's friend. It was warm, comfortable, and there were lots of toys to play with. It was cold outside, but fortunately there was central heating in the flat. Gonggong and Popo (grandpa and grandma) were also in town to see us.

We also had a day trip to the Great Wall at Badaling today. We took our time getting ready, so had quite a late start. Being a Saturday, the traffic was awful, and it took us ages to get there in our hire-car.

Once there, we climbed a long way to the top. We got back into town just in time to have dinner with some of Mummy's relatives who live in the city. Papa let me drink some shandy :-)

Our stay in Beijing

Today, we went to the Natural History Museum and the Paleontology Museum. In the evening, we ate in a famous Peking Duck restaurant. It was very popular; my Grandparents arrived at 6, but we still had to wait until 7:30 to be seated. Luckily, they had cooked up some dumplings so we had something to nibble on while we were waiting.

Duncan and me outside the Paleontology Museum

The day before yesterday, we went to the Beijing Zoo, where we particularly enjoyed the penguin house, and looking at the stone animals. I took a picture of a huge stone turtle, and a stone croc with Papa's camera.

My picture of the stone turtle

Slow train to China

This afternoon, we got off the train at Beijing West Railway station: Mummy and Papa decided to take Duncan and me to Beijing for Easter. We took the sleeper train all the way from Kowloon, via an inland route.

The trip took 24 hours, and was a new experience. Papa had brought along some snacks, but we still had our meals in the dining compartment. I slept in a bunk bed on the train. I wanted to sleep in the upper bunk, but didn't feel safe. I made Papa promise me to buy me a bunk bed with a fixed ladder for home.