We made it to Beijing. Overall the flight was uneventful; however, I guess I was a little anxious because none of the movies sparked my interest. I am thankful for my new Kindle because I have almost finished one book, The Night Circus. We got checked into our hotel and met back for dinner with the vendor. We were really all too tired to try and understand the menu, so we had the buffet. This true China buffet had any and everything, but really the only think that interested me was the fried noodles, fried rice and shrimp, watermelon and cantaloupe and some mango ice cream (which at this moment isn't settling well). We are at the New Century Grand Hotel...it claims to be a Western hotel, but nobody and I mean nobody speaks English. Seriously the table was trying to get bottled water and Diet Coke and after 3 tries we settled for sparkling water and a regular Coke! The rooms are comfortable and after much discussion between the manager and our vendor (and I'm sure some bills exchanged), they turned the air back on for us (the ac in China only runs for June 1 - August 31st)! Beijing is so polluted, smoggy and muggy so you really don't want to open the window. The leaves on the trees look like they are covered in dirt and I hear it rains mud...good thing we are leaving at 6 am. I forgot that most hotels don't use sheets, so I didn't bring one and trying to request one has gotten me nowhere. My toilet doesn't really flush and Marilyn's window will not stay shut so she hopes there are no China Ninjas roaming! I'm just hoping I can sleep till 4am and then looking forward to the Hyatt in Jinan tomorrow night.
Today a typhoon hit where we are scheduled to fly into on Monday, but word is that they will be recovered. I'm secretly wishing for an early flight home!
