First Day in Beijing

Well people we made it to Beijing, China yesterday after a 13 hour flight from O'hare. Our route took us over the North Pole and I thought I saw a rather large red suited fellow being pulled on a giant sled by 8 or 9 reindeer. I tell you Christmas is getting celebrated earlier and earlier every year. Anyway we checked in to our hotel had dinner an were in bed and asleep by 9:00 PM (China Time). The time difference is 13 hours so as I'm writing this it's 4 am your time. Today we visited Tiananmen Square (the largest square of its kind in the world, even bigger than Red Square in Russia) and the Forbidden City. Currently a lot of the buildings are being renovated but there is enough that as you walk around you feel as though you could be an extra in the movie "The Last Emperor". After the Forbidden City we had lunch at a famous restaurant call "Seczhuan Restaurant" The food was very good and very spicy. They pictures of famous people who have eaten there such as Dung Cho Peng, Hilary Clinton, and a few other. After that we enjoyed a bicycle rickshaw ride through one of Beijings Hutong neighborhoods and had the chance to actually visit a resident inside his compound. Tonight we will see some Chinese Acrobats and have dinner. A very odd thing happened to me this morning as I walked out the elevator. I was wearing my University of Arizona baseball cap when a gentleman of Chinese descent asked me was that an Arizona hat. I said yes. We started talking and it turns out we both went there at the same time. He graduated the year I was a freshman and he said he still lives in Tucson, Arizona. That's all for now. Tomorrow we see "The Great Wall"