Beijing, China Days 1 & 2

I figured I would update all on our travel adventures so far. We left Korea for Beijing on 1 April and made it to the airport without any problems. Once we go to the airport we were supposed to meet my mom outside the international gate but she wasn't there. None of us had a phone that worked or willing to pay the roaming charges to try and find her and she doesn't have a cell phone that works outside of the city that she lives in here in China. About an hour and half later she finally appeared. She had been waiting in the wrong terminal for our flight and finally asked.  We then had to figure out how to get from the airport to the hostel we are staying in and took a bus. That was an adventure too as our luggage had to go with us on the bus and not under the bus. We got to our stop and now it was time to get taxis, needed 2, to get us to the area of our hotel. We are staying in a hostel in one of the Hutong districts near the Drum Tower. I will post pictures later this week, once we get to my mom's and I have the camera with me.  Once we got to the hostel we all had to wonder if this place is/was going to work. We have three rooms: Brian-had his own, Zane and my mom have one and so do we. We are here and have realized that Jim and I are not hostel people but we will survive the next few nights. The beds are like sleeping on a very, very hard floor with no cushion. Lots of tossing and turning last night. I think that we will all sleep better tonight. Of course Zane hasn't had any problems sleeping and has been a great little traveler!

Today 2 April- we headed out at 930 and got back to the hostel about 1800. We headed out to the Forbidden City but once there decided today was not a good day as it there were massive amounts of people from everywhere. It is a holiday here in China so it is a little bit busier than once expected. We walked downtown and the little man was hungry so we took him to, of all places, McDonald's, only the 3rd time in his  5 years! After wards we walked over to Wangfujing(?)  market and ate a few things. Jim was even brave and had snake on a stick. No we don't have pictures of him eating it but do have pictures of it before cooking. Zane wasn't liking all the people so we headed out to the Temple of Heaven. We walked around, took pictures and Zane even learned, is trying, to play what we call hacky sack. Afterwards we went to the pearl market, lots of "stuff", then off to the silk market- again lots of stuff but we did see a lot of great dresses I would love to have made. Then back to the hostel.

Tomorrow is an early day as we are heading out to the Great Wall and then to Harley Davidson Beijing then Olympic park. It will be another busy day. I do promise to post pictures once we are at my mom's in Kunming and we have had a chance to go through them, took over 300 today!

Love you all,

Liz, Jim and Zane