Shekou to Beijing

On Monday, we had to leave early to catch our flight to Beijing. After rushing to the airport by cab, the flight was delayed almost an hour. We didn't arrive to our hostel in Beijing until about 3:00, about and hour and a half after we had planned. We are staying in the Downtown Backpacker Hostel in Beijing. It is a great place so far. We have a 6 bed room with private bath and everything is very clean and the staff is very helpful and nice.

We took a stroll through the famous Hutongs and then to eat at a famous restaurant for Beijing Duck. This place was cool because it had Chinese performances including some magic, long spout pourers, and the world renowned Beijing Opera Face Changer. The duck was great and we had some other dishes to complete the meal.

From Dad's Pics

We were pretty tired despite the fairly slow day, but traveling does that to you some time.

Today was our first full day in Beijing and included the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and the LaoSha Tea house for some evening tea. Jamie and I had already seen these, but we enjoyed seeing them in the summer time with everything blooming. Mom, Dad, and Samantha was shocked at the shear size of Forbidden City. We were all pretty exhausted, so the afternoon was spent relaxing a bit at the hostel before hitting the town again at night.

I have uploaded Samantha, Dad, and Jamie's pictures they have taken. Samantha has enjoyed taking pictures and has accumulated over almost 300 pictures so far. Check out our Picasa Photo Album for all of these.

Tomorrow is the Great Wall at the Mutianyu section, the Summer Palace, and a brief stop at the Olympic Village to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. Let's hope for clear weather!