We've landed... and in style!!!

I am now officially writing from Beijing as we have landed. I hope these posts appear without a problem because although I can not view my post on this computer, I can apparently create one. In any case, the trip so far has gone quite well with a few pleasant surprises along the way. We all arrived at the airport on time at Bradley and were able to speedily make our way through the checkpoints. When we met our friends from UE in Chicago about 2 hours later we arrived at our gate only to find out that all of us had been upgraded to business class. We don't really know why, but you don't ask questions in those circumstances considering the upgrade was free. On our 13-14 hour flight to Beijing we ended up with more spacious seats that adjusted in five different ways, and a meal plan that was comparable to a restaurant. I started off with a salad followed by filet mignon and a chocolate cheesecake for desert. All was very good in quality, and best of all compliments of United Airlines. The service throughout the flight was also amazing.

After arriving in Beijing we breezed through customs and stepped out of the airport to find a large crowd of people waiting behind small barriers for incoming travelers. There were so many people I couldn't help but feel like a celebrity. After walking around the barriers we met up with our tour guide in Beijing whose English name is Grace. On the bus ride to our hotel Grace informed us of some of the history of Beijing and gave us some pointers about traveling in China. Beijing is loosely translated to mean "North Capital", and has an estimated population of 17 million people making it the third largest city in China. As we drove to our hotel it was amazing to see how many cars were on the road, and how many were brand new. Grace said that 60% of the population in Beijing now owns a car after they became less expensive to purchase in 1998 after China joined the World Trade Organization. Despite this fact, it was also very clear how popular public transportation was in the city because there were taxis and crowded buses everywhere. Grace said there are 80,000 taxis that operate in Beijing all under the control of the government. The benefit of the government control is that the cab fare is the same regardless of where you take a taxi in the city. Similarly, the government control of the money makes the exchange rate the same in any location which is good because its difficult to be cheated out of money. Another interesting part of the bus ride was just seeing the city lit up at night as everything seemed to be highlighted by neon including many of the skyscrapers.

I'm looking forward to touring Beijing tomorrow. The flight over here was very long and was a little taxing on me especially considering I'm not accustomed to travel, but I'm already glad I came. After getting settled into the hotel some of us even went out for our first authentic meal, and I can tell you personally that it was delicious. Let's hope that theme continues throughout the trip. I'm going to try to post pictures, but will do it separately than the text as I'm still trying to work with the equipment I have here. It is also difficult considering I seem to have limited access to what I can view in regards to this site. I hope all works out and you continue to enjoy the posts. Now for some much needed rest.