We trained with some Chinese boys and learnt heaps. They tried to teach us to do Wendi dismounts on the buck. We liked the buck so much we decided to buy it. Today, instead of Chinese we had MacDonalds for lunch. This afternoon Lu had a special surprise for us- we went to visit his old primary school. When we arrived at the School the principal met us at the gate and took us into the staff lounge. The school captain then took us out into their playground where the students performed a dance for us. We then took a tour of the school. They gave us a gift, then we went to the markets. When we were on our way back, the taxi driver stopped and bought himself a meat patty.

(matt)

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

We bid farewell to our friends in Tianjin today and travelled into the big city of Beijing, Capital of China, two hours down the Tingjing Highway. Then we checked into our hotel, ate another chinese banquet and left for National Training Centre to watch the world/Olympic champions train - unbeleivable- what legends! If this doesn't inspire our boys nothing will. Everyone is tired and in bed early as tomorrow training is at 7:30 - 9:30 (Won't be available for 8am phonecalls tomorrow I'm afraid) and then we are leaving for a tour of the Great Wall of China.

(Bev)

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

Hello from Beijing. Sorry we haven't been sending messages because our new bodyguard takes us everywhere. Yesterday after training we climbed the Great Wall. We bought lots of presents. Annete, Bev, us and June walked the extra steep bit. Lu didn't. We then had traditional Beijing duck. We didn't get home until 10:30.

(hayden joel).

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

Hi, it's Annette here. I am writing this e-mail at 12:15am in the morning only because we have been unable to send our e-mails due to what we think was a virus under the heading something about a worm. We have had a couple of funny addresses. Anyway I will apologise, Matt and James had written today's events but to try and get this thing working(it has taken me over 1hour)I lost their e-mail. They will do today's. I was concerned you would be wondering what was going on. Today the boys had a training session. They were all a little weary from their Great Wall Adventure. After lunch(Chinese)they visited the markets. Their bargaining is exceptional now. They had dinner at a restaurant across the road(you guessed it- Chinese) this time Chinese from the south. Best of all was the Karaoke with Lu coming out the most talented singer of the evening. The weather today was beautiful. It is cooler in the evenings but the days have been great. Tomorrow they will visit The Forbidden City. I know they will have lots to tell you in the next e-mail. Once again, sorry it is me. I'm impressed with myself for getting this working again.

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

Today we went to the antique markets.It was so boring and dusty. Hayden finally found a GameBoy to buy so now we are over shopping. After shopping, we went to The Forbidden City. It was very interesting to see where and how the Empires used to live. We ended up staying there for 3 hours. We then went to the Tianoman Square. It has way too many squares. When got ready to go out to dinner at yet another Chinese restaurant. We then recieved a present from the head of the national gymnastics team.

(Matt,James)

PS. Elliot doesn't like writng these he just lets us

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

Today we had a hard training session. We trained for three hours and then went to the Li Ning shop to swap our new jackets for a bigger size. After training we went to the zoo and markets and Matt, James, Joel and Hayden bought a GameBoy Advance Game. We then got back on the bus and watched the movie Mission Impossible 2. We then got back to our hotel and played our Game Boys. Elliot found a Game Boy Color on the bus and a game so he played that. then we then went to bed at 9:00 (not too late) and fell asleep.

GoodBye

Matt,James and Elliot

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

Hi mark how's it going?
Training in China has been pretty amazing and we've seen some next to impossible things in the two gyms we visited (Tianjing/Beijing). These are some of the things we have been doing-- On floor we have been working on round off flips and flip tucks. We also have been working on handspring step out handspring etc... On bock we have been doing circles and wendi dismounts. On rings we have been doing swings and dislos. On vault we have been doing handsprings and frontsaults off a beatboard. On p-bars we have been doing underswings and swings to handstand. On h-bar we have been doing front and back giants. When we were in Tianjing we watched some of the little 7 year olds train and boy were they amazing.They could do reverse giants and could handstand on the wall for 1 minute. We also were lucky to have a comp in Tianjing. Beijing was pretty amazing. Being able to watch the older boys train was twice as good as being in Australia.

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

Hey Mark how is the Gym going without us?
In the time we have been in China I have felt that I have had a few good training sessions and a few bad training sessions. We have been working on a few different skills encluding Wendi on buck and reverse giants on High Bar. We have been stretched everyday and are alot more flexible but not as much as we would like! I have been working very hard on strengh and have had a lot of trouble climbing the rope. I hope I bring back as much disipline as I can so I can become a better gymnast. I will miss training with the world champions but will be very excited to be back in Sydney.

See Ya Thursday

Matt

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo

We hit the National Training Centre with gusto and jumping out of our skins enthusiasm this morning, and even started warming up without Lu. As a reward for a really good start we were allowed to move to the main gym and, get this - train alongside the current world champions. They looked pretty puny next to us and we showed them a skill or two (hee hee). But seriously we thought Chinese were small people - these guys are BIGGGG! We are so honoured to be allowed to be in the same room as these superb athletes and it's all due to Lu's influence because we know that teams from USA & France have not been allowed. You are not even allowed to take video but they let Bev take photos. After a great session we went to lunch and then shopping and Elliot finally emptied his wallet and had a spend up. We then visited the Li Ning shop. We bought a few things. Well that's about it from us.

BYE...

Love from the NBG China Gang xxxxxxxxoooooooo