First and Second Day - Arrival and Beijing

We are in Beijing and I am typing like the wind in order to post this before my connection to Blogger goes out.

The first day is often kind a non-day, from a storytelling perspective, because so much of it has been spent sitting in a long metal tube that flies through the sky for fourteen hours. But, well, I'll give it this: said metal tube was pretty comfy as metal tubes go. We got into the tube at lunchtime on Thursday (by our original perspective, as dwellers in the Western Hemisphere) and arrived in Beijing at about 2:30 in the afternoon on FRIDAY. 

Charlie hasn't been on a plane trip that long since he left China in 2010 -- Tim never has -- and I have. Both guys did great - Charlie by alternating between electronics and sleep, Tim by alternating between food and sleep. Customs and Immigration was pretty painless and after a bit of waiting and calling we caught up with our driver and were off to the hotel.

Our hotel is neat -- tucked inside a real living "hutong," one of the low courtyard neighborhoods that used to define Beijing before many were razed. Today, they are celebrated and much more protected. Our hotel is only 2-3 stories of rooms, wrapped around a central courtyard, the upper floors accessible by a variety of rambling stairs and semi-open public spaces. The floors are all wood and the courtyard is lovely. Last night, they had a traditional music group performing and tourists and locals drinking tea and listening. Charlie fell asleep with the musicians two floors down below his window, the music very gently tinkling and strumming into his ears.

However, before he fell asleep we had conducted an enforced march -- that is, taken a long walk -- around the Dongcheng district -- the area between the Forbidden City and Wangfujing Street. We were trying to make sure we got enough exercise and outside time that we would fall asleep at China bedtime, not US bedtime, given that China is 12 hours ahead of Virginia. Then we staggered off and got dinner -- not a great dinner but it got the job done.

Breakfast this morning was the usual mix of Chinese goodies -- dumplings, steamed buns, steamed bread, different stir Frieda veggies -- and Western foods like eggs and bacon and croissants and cereal. One surprise: Charlie pointed to the bowl of eggs with the "boiled eggs" sign and his eyes lit up -- he LOVES hard-boiled eggs -- but when he cracked into it, SURPRISE -- not boiled. One raw egg plate later, we were back on track with some cooked scrambled eggs for Mr. C.

Then we hustled up to brush our teeth and straight out to the courtyard to meet our guide for today, David. We hopped in the van and met up with another family adopting from China, then headed off to WanChun Pavilion, a Buddhist shrine perched high on a hill overlooking the Forbidden City. A nice little climb got us an impressive view of Beijing and the City. And now we are off to the mountains to explore a portion of the Great Wall! 

This (or maybe the Temple of Heaven) was my favorite part of Beijing last time so I am super excited.  More later, and hopefully photos later!