Peking Man Site, Near Beijing, China

As some of you know, I find the origin of the human species very fascinating, so we had to take a trip to the site of where one of the first fossilised human skulls was excavated in the early 1920's. 'Peking Man' as these humans became known as, are our ancestors (can you see the resemblance?). They lived 500,000 years ago and were identified as being well advanced and able to use primitive tools. It was cool to see the site and visit the small, informative museum.

On our last day in Beijing we squeezed in a trip to the Summer Palace - a retreat for all the Emperors and their Emperesses. More colourfully painted Ming architecture with curly-roofed temples and bobble-topped pagodas. Unfortunately, as with many sites in Beijing, a few of the buildings were covered in scaffolding being renovated in time for the 2008 Olympics, but this didn't take away from the beauty and grandeur of the place and it was worth the visit. * Mush