Entrance to our hotel
Friday, May 8
Well, we lost a whole day somewhere…. We arrive in
Beijing on Friday evening and are met by the assistant to the Director
of the China program, Luo Ling. Our 23 year old guide is very friendly
and helps us into a hired van and drives us
out of the airport to our hotel. Seeing all the tall buildings and neon
billboards reminds me of living in Taiwan and I wish Jeremy was here to
experience this. We are starving as we get to our hotel, so Luo Ling
(who tells us to pronounce her name “Rowling”,
as in J.K.Rowling) finds us a noodle restaurant that’s open late and we
have our fill.
The hotel is comfortable and clean and there’s a
little pond and garden out front with a fancy Chinese gate and red
lanterns at the entrance. A little fancier than a Super 8. It has been
awhile since I ate in a restaurant where people smoke
or slept in a hotel that allowed smoking and I’ve forgotten how
unpleasant it is. It’s hard to sleep with the cigarette smell from
another room permeating my nose. But, I’m not sure this hotel has a
non-smoking section. My room has 3 ashtrays (including one
in the bathroom) for the convenience of smokers.
As we landed in the airport the air seemed dark and
I wasn’t sure if it was just evening or the famous pollution we hear
about. But the prevalence of smoking and the heavy traffic make me think
the air is not so clean. As the sun starts
to rise now at 5:30 on Saturday morning, we will see if we can see
through the thick air. Today, we are going to see the Great Wall!
Beijing cat
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