Don't ever take two sleeping pills! The upside is the plane ride goes really, really fast, the down side is it is hard to get out of the stooper! We left Chicago, stopped in Washington, Dulles, for breakfast. I will never diss a travel lounge again, what luzury to sit in the VIP lounge. We flew over Canada, saw ice floating in St. George Bay, and then sleep. Arrived Bejing on time and caught a plane to Shenyang. We were picked up there by van with a friend of Haihong and arrived to alovely apartment. The first day was busy, Tai Chi in the morning, breakfast with the best friend mushrooms ever, a hike up to the temple, lunch,and nap and then .... a massage by 3 blind masseuse, I kid you not, it was wonderful. ... read more

Less than a week before we go, packing is started and we have set up the blog. Travellers: Andrew Ehrensing, my nephew, Nora Ehrensing, my sister and her husband, Mike Ehrensing, and, of course, me. Andrew is married to Hai Hong Tian, they have a baby girl, Sara, who is almost a year old. Hai Hong has taken Sara to China to meet her family, we are joining her there. We leave June 12 at 6 AM from Chicago, Nora has already given up coffee (less public toilets to contend with) and I am working to adjust my sleep schedule. The only thing we haven't done is learn Chinese!... read more