Beijing

Well, we finally made it to China. Over 18 hours in the air - lots of plane food, movies and finally a little sleep - - we are now in the country of our daughter Allie!

Our guide George met us at the Beijing Aiport and took us to the hotel with three other families.

We slept (well tried to) so we could adjust to the 12 hours time difference. This was tough - lots of 2am automatic wakeups - and not much to watch on China TV (especially since we can't understand what they are saying). We did find a chinese soapopera - a home shopping network; and a weird basketball game with no backboards/short skirts. Interesting....

The hotel was beautiful - including an outside garden. We had a starbucks, McDonalds and Pizza Hut within walking distance. Perfect!

Our tours in Beijing included:
A rickshaw ride! Wow, that guys was sweating after pulling Bob and I. LOL He was also very interested in Bob's hairy arm!
A visit to Mr. Hou's house - - 5th generation home. Very beautiful.
Tieneman Square - Forbidden City - - very crowded, and lots of vendors.
Silk Factory - - bought a few items.
Jade Factory.
The Great Wall! This was our favorite site in Beijing! After climbing for about an hour, we were exhausted! I can't wait to show you our pictures, and make sure everyone asked Bob to see his new shirt "I climbed the Great Wall"! He purchased that and his first Chinese Beer (TSINGTAO) after our climb!
Our final tours were of the olympic stadium (birdsnest - and water cube) - lots of folks took more pictures of Bob - and interesting Porta-Squatty-Pottys.

Overall, Beijing was incredible. The people were so friendly and we enjoyed our time there! - Bob and Jennifer