we made it!

Well actually we only made it to the end of day one and the biggest challenges so far, apart from the suicidal lorry driversn are the potholes. Think bomb crater and you will be somewhere near. We have covered a very easy and comfortable 398km in the marvellous Aston which is running beautifully (that's for you Richard) and driven from Peking to The Great Wall and onto to our first rest at the Daihai Hotel. We are now enjoying a quick beer whilst we watch the stragglers arrive and Adrian says he is very much hoping that dinner will provide something that he can bite on! Does he sound hungry already? China is already presenting itself as a country of extremes. In Bejiing you can see the new money pretty much evident in the cars and the boutiques. But where we have been today, through the coal mining towns, was eye opening and makes you appreciate how communism just didn't work. Its an huge landmass and just goes on and on as far as the eye can see. More tomorrow all being well. Bye for now. Andrew and Adrian