Busted Bathrooms in Beijing

Posting today very quickly from an overpriced net cafe in Beijing. The 'rents and I arrived here on Monday and settled into a charming little old ancient courtyard hotel... which we promptly had to move out of the next morning due to busted pipes in our bathroom. There were no other rooms available so we ended up in a noisy, dodgy and dirty kitch chinese hotel down the street. The standards are more than just lax- they don't even change the sheets between guests unless you demand it!

Since then we have climbed the Great Wall; visited Tiananmen Square; gotten trapped in the Forbidden City when Jacques Chirac dropped in for a visit and closed off all the exits; climbed up and down more stairs in monuments that my legs can forgive me for (I'm in a world of pain), and this morning we are heading off to see Mouldy old Mao's corpse preserved for all to see in his memorial hall... mmmmm... "I see dead people..."

Then we're onto an overnight train to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors, where I hope to have more time to post.

Manny is having a blast, though I cant post photos til we get back.

Gotta dash now....