Arrived late into Beijing and got picked up by the lovely people from the JiHouse hotel. We booked 2 nights there as it's a traditional hutong style hotel set around an old Beijing courtyard. They could not have been easier to deal with during the booking process or nicer. They brought their original price down A LOT (so bargain hard if you plan on staying there too) and we ended up paying 700 RMB for a double room per night. This included airport transfers both ways and breakfast. The rooms are super nice, the hotel only opened just before the 2008 Olympics. They all have underfloor heating (essential in winter), modern bathrooms and very comfy beds. I definitely recommend the JiHouse if you're planning a trip to Beijing.

Spent the day trekking 10km of the Great Wall. AMAZING! We walked from Jinshanling to Simatai, which takes 4 hours. We saw all of about 4 other people the whole time. The views are incredible, but the hiking is not easy. Don't do this if you're a) afraid of steep climbs, b) unfit or c) a sucker for all things touristy as there are no gimmicks on this route. We hired a driver for the day (1,000 RMB) to take us from the Ji House hotel to the wall. The drives takes about 2 hrs. Once we got to Simatai we had lunch in a cute cafe there. Delicious food going for a song. If you do this hike don't forget to take some small change with you as you have to buy tickets for the diff sections of the wall along the way. DM me if you want the details of the driver we used. He was excellent and speaks v.good English.

Spent the morning exploring the Forbidden City - an incredible place. We spend a couple of hours there, but could have taken a lot more time. Lots of alleyways, courtyards and palace rooms to explore. We then checked out Tiananmen Square and from there went shopping. In the afternoon we explored some of the old Hutong near our hotel on foot. They are packed with cool boutiques, funky cafes and nice restaurants. Again, we could have spent a whole lot more time doing this, but were pressed to get back to the airport. An amazing weekend and I can't wait to go back to Beijing for more fun!