China- Beijing Day 1

What a trip... I have to start somewhere... but there is so much to start with.

Vy texted a few people in the neighborhood.  She said there was a really cheap flight roundtrip to Beijing for under 500$.  Did I want to go?  So three months later we are off.  The Larkins, the Lakes, the Balls.  We had researched, met, had dinners, planning meetings, voted on what to see and talked about how to travel well all together.

All things start with adventure.  Thursday March 15th...Brittany left her passport on the plane from SLC to Seattle.  They wouldn't let her load.  Thankfully she found it.  But they had already closed the door to our plane so the Larkins got to spend a day in Seattle.  We super missed them.

I was overwhelmed with the unfamiliar sounds of China upon landing. Not much English speaking going on.  We found an overpriced taxi that took us to a dark alley and told us our hotel was down there.  We were grateful to find it. Crashed into bed. We had left Utah on Thursday afternoon and arrived in China late Friday night.  The flight was so neat to chase the sun.  It was a night with no darkness on the plane.

We found some yummy fried bread outside our hotel the next morning.  Darren and I slept in until 6:00 since we had taken a sleeping pill.  Then off to the Forbidden City.  Chinas history is so much more ancient then Americas history.  It snowed on us all day.  We wore all the layers we had.  That moisture broke a dry spell China had been having for a very long time.

We walked about 17 miles that day.  Beihai Park, we saw a traditional Hutong where families lived together with an inner court yard, had our first taste of Chinese food, and went to Tiananmen Square.  We were so excited to get back to our hotel and see the Larkins.  Glad they could join and start the trip together.

Beihai Park- 690,000 Square meters. Established in the year 1166 AD. It was the park for Royal family to go sightseeing.  Earliest and best preserved imperial garden in the world. 

 Funny signs everywhere.

 Hutong- Were families lived together.  Many generations together.  An inner court yard.  George Bush stayed at this one during the Olympics.

 Downtown life.  Tiananmen Square. Strange food. Vy dancing. We stopped in at "Snack Street"... Hungry for food after experimenting on some strange stuff... McDonalds had burgers.  Vy got a rice bow.

Hotel rooms in China are very small and simple.  Glass showers.  Darren laughed that you could go to the bathroom and wash your hair at the same time.