The Tourist Departs

My time at the Courtyard 7 is at an end. I take a flight back home this afternoon.

One of the upshots of the trip has been that if I'm going to be up in the air, which I don't particularly like, then it's better to be in a plane than in a chairlift.

But obviously one has to do certain things to go and see bits of the Great Wall.

Taking such a contraption was never in my evaluation when it came to seeing such a piece of history.

Beijing has been a varied experience. Like any big city there is the new and the traditional. What will be interesting to see is how those two factors develop.

The Olympics site was all very gleaming but what now for the Water Cube? During the week spent here on holiday, I've been able to see the other side - the restaurants, the tacky bar strips, the hip zones and the corporate power sectors.

And obviously it's going to be the personal that I'll hang on to. It'll will always be questionable whether the Olympics should have been staged in Beijing.

What is certain is it's a brilliant place to be.