Greetings from Beijing !

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We are here in China ! I'm still trying to process that. All our flights went smoothly (all 20 hours of it!) and all luggage made it in tact. Our flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo went over the southern most edge of the Arctic Circle so Ernest took a couple of great shots of the ice sheets from the plane. We had a 747 across the Pacific but an Airbus from Tokyo to Beijing and that is a really great plane with personal video units. Although Ernest slept the whole way, I got caught up on some movies and read a good book.

We arrived in Beijing on time at 10:00 pm but with getting luggage, meeting our guide and driving to the hotel, it was well after midnight when we got settled in and we had a 6:00 am wake up call to start early this morning. We met 4 others on the tour last night who were on our same plane and will hook up with the other 8 today. Small group so the tour guide, Eddie, was excited (much easier for him to handle).

The hotel is very nice, considered 5 star here, although Eddie kept stressing on drive from the airport that it is the low end of the 5 stars. Not by my standards. Hot water, great shower pressure and a hair dryer so I'm happy.

Breakfast this morning was interesting. Many foods that we saw in Malaysia but also had jellyfish salad (I didn't try it but Ernest did), fried dumplings, dim sum and small round pizzas ! Very interesting mix of west and east. Of course, Ernest is already asking, where's lunch?

We have a busy day today visiting the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square, with an acrobatic show tonight with our Peking Duck. Weather is much like Atlanta was when I left, lows in mid-40's and highs in 60's. Supposed to be great weather today.

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Comments

[janet]

You're in China!
Can you believe you're finally there? Sounds like you're off to great start.

[Jordie]

Coolness!
Wow! I'm so jealous. Be sure to eat all kinds of crazy things and write them down to tell me! Make sure Ernest takes plenty of pics too. Love you, and look forward to more trip updates. :-)

[Lillian]

glad you arrived safely and all flights were smooth. You have an exciting day ahead, can't wait to hear all about it. Anxious to see the Arctic pictures. Have fun!

[Emma]

Yay!
Love you Aunt Melly! If you want nice weather, move to sunny, breezy southern california... ;). I'm so happy you are taking this trip... keep up the blog! I love reading it!

[anonymous]

How excilting! Finally there! Looking forward to hearing all about it! Jellyfish, huh?

[Gretchen]

Awesome!!
So excited for you!! I know this will be SO much fun -- no eating rats, ok? I have shared your blog with Shelby's world geography class. We are going to vicariously take the trip with you!! Have fun -- be safe, and don't eat anything I wouldn't =D

[Connie]

Happy Halloween!
I guess you're not celebrating Halloween, huh? It's got to be a good trip when that long on the plane is smooth. Y'all have fun and know that work misses Ernest.

[Grace]

Sounds awesome! I just have one request....I can deal with jellyfish, but try to steer clear of dog. Love you!