We made it !!

We made it to Beijing. It is Thursday morning at 5 a.m. here and it is about 3 pm. Wed at home. Our trip started off with an interesting twist on Tuesday. When we got to the Milwaukee airport, the guy at the United desk said our connecting flight to Chicago was cancelled due to mechanical problems, but we could catch the bus and get there in time. But, then he looked and said the flight to Beijing was cancelled as well. We were not happy. He looked all over but could not find another flight on Tuesday. He said we would have to take the same flight on Wed. That meant we would miss one whole day of touring we had planned, but what can you do? Since we were at the airport with all our stuff, I said we should take the bus and get to Chicago anyway and then stay overnight so we wouldn't have to worry about missing the connecting flight on Wed. So we did that (I think God was whispering in my ear for this, read on). When we got to O'Hare in Chicago, Steve said we should check at the United desk one more time in case they could find us a flight that day. So, I went and looked at the board and it said our flight to Beijing was ON TIME. We then asked and they said the flight was never cancelled. So, we did get on the original flight. Just goes to show that you really need to check and double check. We were lucky we decided to take the bus and that we checked again !!

Anyway, the flight went ok. It was very long, about 12 1/2 hours in the air. But the day was much longer between checking in, getting off and getting luggage and going through customs and immigration in China. We left our house about 6:30 a.m. on 3/21 and got to the hotel about 5:30 pm on 3/22. So we had been up almost 24 hours. We did sleep a bit on the plane, but only in short naps. The economy section is very cramped and uncomfortable on these planes. We've been spoiled by Midwest Express too much. The tour guide met us at the airport and she and the drive got us to the hotel with no problems.

Once we got to the hotel, we decided to try to stay up a bit longer to try to get on China time. So Sarah and I went swimming (we had to buy swim caps in order to use the pool!) and then we walked to the Hard Rock Cafe, which was only a few blocks from the hotel. However, if you thought crossing the street in Chicago is bad, try Beijing. There are bikes everywhere (and the bikers don't seem to care if cars are coming or not) and even if you have the green walk signal, apparently the cars turning right don't stop.

But, we made it and talk about surreal. Here we are in Beijing at about 7 at night, we've been up over 24 hours and Steve and Sarah are eating hamburgers and fries while we listen to a band from the Phillipines play American cover songs !!

We hit the sack about 9. I woke up about 3:30 and dozed until about 5. Now I am updating the web site as I can't sleep anymore.

Today we tour the Beijing Zoo (hope to see some Pandas), the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. Then tonight we go see the Chinese Acrobats (hope we can stay awake). Tomorrow its off to the Great Wall and some local shopping (translate bargaining).