Friday 5th October
Today was our last day in China - 10 members of our party would be leaving to return to the UK the next morning whilst 6 of us flew to Hong Kong for another 3 nights. However, there was still plenty to do and see. We checked out of our hotel in Beijing after breakfast and drove to the Forbidden City. It was still raining and we felt sorry for other tour groups staying at the hotel who were off to climb the Great Wall today! We had a photo taken of us under the 'hugging tree' - a must for lovers we were told!!
The Forbidden City was, until the last century, the seat of China's Emperors. The Last Emperor (see last film of that name) had 999½ rooms built which housed 3000 concubines. Why 999½ you ask? Well, apparently his father had 1000 rooms and, as his heir, he was not allowed to have as many as his father, so.......999½!!! We spent a couple of hours walking around this amazing city with Sally giving us interesting snippets of information.
Then it was off to the airport for our flight back to Shanghai where we were to spend our final night in China. As we would be arriving in Shanghai in time for the Friday night rush hour again (as on our arrival from the UK) and because we didn't want to have to sit in traffic for 3 hours 
again, we asked Jacky if it would be possible to arrange tickets for the MagLev train to take us from the airport to the centre of the city. This magnetic levitation train is another 'must do' in Shanghai and reaches a speed of 430km per hour taking only 7½ minutes to complete this journey. We were delighted that he was able to get us tickets - a real bargain at 40 Yuan (less than £3) each for a single and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of accelerating to such a speed - amazing. On the journey Jacky also told us that he had phoned ahead to the hotel and asked for us all to be upgraded as it was our last night in China and when we arrived in our rooms we weren't disappointed - we all had 6ft beds and most of us had suites as well - what a treat! Thank you Jacky!
again, we asked Jacky if it would be possible to arrange tickets for the MagLev train to take us from the airport to the centre of the city. This magnetic levitation train is another 'must do' in Shanghai and reaches a speed of 430km per hour taking only 7½ minutes to complete this journey. We were delighted that he was able to get us tickets - a real bargain at 40 Yuan (less than £3) each for a single and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of accelerating to such a speed - amazing. On the journey Jacky also told us that he had phoned ahead to the hotel and asked for us all to be upgraded as it was our last night in China and when we arrived in our rooms we weren't disappointed - we all had 6ft beds and most of us had suites as well - what a treat! Thank you Jacky!And so it was with heavy hearts we all met up for our final meal together - Jacky was leaving us tonight as he had Saturday off to be best man at his friend's wedding. After 2 weeks together we all felt like a family and it was sad to say 'goodbye'. We all exchanged email addresses so we can share our photos and sat in the bar 'til late reliving all our experiences. Laine had written a poem for Jacky on behalf of us all which you can read in a separate blog along with photos of everyone - it says it all.......
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