Beijing

Well, after a full 24 hours of travel we have arrived in China!  Neither of us could sleep Wednesday night, so it was great to relax on both legs of the trip.  The flights we great and we arrived fully refreshed.  (Steve even said he is looking forward to the flights home!)  God really was watching out for us and making sure that the flights were smooth and uneventful. 

We met our Welcome House contact, Mrs. Li at the airport.  After checking into the Beijing Hotel, we walked to her favorite restauarant for dinner at 8:30 pm local time.  We had a wonderful meal for $8  per person.  We were so tired from our travels that we went directly to bed and slept soundly in spite of the extremely hard mattresses!

Bejing is much different than when I  (Steve) was here last.  It is all new with lots of cars and (cough, cough) polution like you would not believe.  As we flew into Beijing, the clouds literally turned brown.  Our eyes both feel the strain.  Thankfully we are heading out of the city today.

We head north today to climb the Great Wall and visit the Summer Palace.  I think this is a great way to understand some of Qian Xiao's culture. 

I do not think I really had time to process the fact that we were going to China, but it feels good to be here.  Things really do not feel all that different from home - either China has changed in the last 20 years or I have.  Maybe a bit of both. 

Less than 36 hours until we meet Qian Xiao!  We are very excited to day is soon here!