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Published: September 18th 2009
Gabe here. First impression of Beijing is the horrible air quality. We knew it would be bad, but it still didn't prepare us for not being able to see the sun. I think there was a mix of cloud cover and smog, but it was a pretty gross brown color. A lot of people wear masks. Other impressions of Beijing are both good and bad - definitely very different, and we are eager to explore.
Our flight got in at 2 pm, but it was after 4 pm by the time we made it through customs and got a taxi to our hotel. That whole process went really smoothly actually. Our hotel room is nice - stephanie booked it in advance using credit card points. We have a flat screen TV, a computer with free internet (typing on it now), a decent bathroom and two beds. The mattresses in china are really hard - kind of like sleeping on a gymn matt.
Once we got settled in our room we set out to find food. The streets were really quiet because police had closed them down, and all the nearby stores were closed. We later found out this is because they are rehearsing the street closure for the Oct 1st parade commemorating the 60th anniversary of the PRC rule. We didn't know this though, so it was pretty weird walking around the closed streets. Using my compass and a combination of a city map and our lonely planet guide, we figured out where we were and walked towards an area that was supposed to have food. It was getting dark, and we were both pretty jet lagged, so Steph settled for a box of sugar cookies from a convenience store, and then we walked into a busy local restaurant with no english to be found. I pointed at some noodles that looked good, and it turned out they weren't bad. My meal was 4 yuan, which is about 60 cents.
We turned in early and woke up at 5 am. Still need to get used to the time difference. Nothing else to do so we took turns on the internet (my turn now), waiting for the hotel breakfast at 7. Today we're going to rent bicycles and explore the area a bit better. Should be much more lively without the street closures. Pictures to come.
Oh one more thing we forgot is that China blocks a lot of the websites we use. Stephanie can't directly access her blog at blogspot.com, but there may be a workaround. Also we can't get to facebook - although it could just be the computer in the hotel. And all the text on google maps is in chinese. I wish I knew Mandarin...
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Matt Potterton
non-member comment
And so it begins
I have heard that the government there blocks a lot of stuff online, that is going to be annoying. You should try chicken feet, supposed to be some sort of delicacy!