First Full Day in China

We made it to China yesterday after a long flight. Everything went well and we even ended up getting a free upgrade to Economy Plus when my TV screen would not work. After arriving at the Beijing airport we headed to the hotel with 4 other families. We were on our own for dinner and ended up at McDonalds of all places. We had tried to find a dumpling restaurant that had an English menu but were unable to. We were completely exhausted after the trip (neither Dave nor I were able to sleep on the plane), so after dinner we just headed back to the hotel. We worked hard to keep ourselves awake till 9pm when we were supposed to IChat with the kids. Well it turns out that the Internet capacity here in China is not good enough to do the video chat. It may change at the next stop but we were very disappointed not to be able to see the kids. I did get to talk to them on the phone though. It looks like we will have to upload Skype and try it that way.

Today was a day full of sight seeing. We went to Tian'anmen Square, the forbidden city, a silk factory and Hutong district. We were smelly and tired by the end but had a great time. The silk factory was actually pretty interesting. we got to see how it goes from a silk worm all the the way to the fabric. The forbidden city was pretty amazing. It was so crowded that I felt a little overwhelmed at times. When we were walking through Tian'anmen Square a Chinese man stopped our guide and asked if Dave and I would take a picture with his family. They acted like we were celebrities and put their arms around us for a photo. It was quite funny.

We are definitely missing the kids but we know they are probably having a blast with the grandparents. Our guide showed us the dumpling restaurant so in a few minutes we are meeting another family to head there for dinner. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention breakfast. We have breakfast included with the hotel and oh my goodness do they put on a spread. They have all the Western classics as well as the Chinese, including fried rice, noodles and soup. Lunch was traditional Chinese at one of our guides favorite restaurants. It was really good.

All for now. Tomorrow is the Great Wall, a jade factory and several others. Love to you all.