First Day in Beijing

---

Hello all from Beijing!!! I finally found wifi!! A bit of a communications issue. No internet in the rooom at the hotel but wifi in the lobby, so here I am!! Here's the trip so far. I will download some of my photos tonight and post them to my blog tomorrow. I hope all is well.

Friday, September 09, 2011 - 11:00 PM

Well, I made it safely in Beijing. After a smooth and relatively painless flight from Vancouver, 11 hours, a few bad movies, and lots of crosswords later we touched down in the collosal Beijing airport. The upgrade to the exit row was well worthwhile, heaps of leg room. Slowly got through customs, baggage claim and into the huge line for a taxi and I was off on the massive freeway system to downtown Beijing. No views from the freeway, you could have been anywhere, just solid modern freeway. I found my way past the Central Train station, just down the street. I will have to make my way back there to start my train journey later to Tibet. After a quick cell phone call to the hotel by the cabby, I arrived at the quaint Dong Jiao Ming Xiang Hotel. No hassles checking in and quickly up to room 405. Not to bad, basic and relatively clean except for the carpet and the rock hard bed. I made a quick run to the grocery shop down the road for some snacks and a really bad warm beer. Back by 8:30 PM so I have been up for over 24 hours and am fading fast. I've found one English language tv channel and will try to crash now. Later.

Saturday, September 10, 2011 - 10:04:03 AM

Well, my first full day in China. Off to an early start, didn't get must sleep last night so finally gave up and got up at 6:30. I must be on holidays! From the map in the hotel room, it seems that Tian An Men Square is a mere 500 m from the hotel so i headed out on foot to find it. After about an hour of wondering wonderful backstreets I headed back and ended up in a fantastic street fruit and veggie market. Not a tourist in site, so I tactfully tried to blend my 6'4" caucasian self in. Beautiful peaches, melons, mushroom, chestnuts, beans, and bananas. I couldn't resist and had to give in to one of the street wagons selling what appeared to be very popular breakfast fare. I caved, and bought one. It was a green onion cake like pancake with an egg fried into it, assorted other undentified garnishes and on top a wiener! I ditched the weiner and dug in. It was fantastic AND all for a whopping 4 Yuan or about 55 cents. I will wait to see if I pay for adventureousness! I finally headed down the main drag - Quain Men East and within a few blocks I could see Quan Men Tower at the end of Tian An Men Square. After coming up from the underground pedestrian crossing, there it was! Tian An Men Square!!!! A little overwhelming to stand and take it all in. It, like I'm finding so many things, is colossal in scale. Just stood and soaked it all in. It is a bit of a rainy morning here today so the square was a sea of colourful umbrellas. Almost entirely Asian tourist, once again failed at blending in! I guess I better get used to it. Walked the length of the square and across to the gates of the Palace Museum. Once again, amazing to stand and take it all in. I did a quick walk throught the Palace Museum, but I will be going back when I start my tour, I will wait to got back for a better look then. I've put on quite a few miles already today, so I have returned to the hotel to rest for a bit and the head out for some more exploring this afternoon. Good day so far, I've gotten to check of two long standing items on my bucket list today!! Tian An Men Square - BTDT, the Palace - BTDT!!

I came back to my room and opened the curtains to discover that I have a clear view of the gate at the end of Tien An Men square!!

Jeff

---

Comments

[Barb]

1st day in Beijing
Hey Jeff! It sounds like you are having a great time on your trip. I can't wait to see some photos.