day 1

hello everyone!! sorry my blog didn't work out. I'm going to go back and post what i wrote everyday so here it goes!

June 27 1:45am (Wednesday)
Today we arrived in Beijing, well that is TONIGHT we arrived in Beijing. 

Our final flight got in at about 10:30. I was so excited to get out and see the city 

as we drove to the hotel, but Yoke, the lady who is directing our tour informed us we

 had to wait for another group flying in. That group did not arrive until 12:30! 

However, finally we were off. Yoko started us off with some general info, most of 

which I knew until she informed us that there is no WiFy in the hotel. She also 

mentioned how Facebook is blocked which i knew, but what I did n't know is that 

google is blocked which means no blog :(. To all of you who tried to read it and 

found nothing. I'm so sorry!
When we got into our room Emily, Katie and I found a computer. Too bad we couldn't 

turn on the screen!!! I'm hoping tomorrow someone can help us so I can at least email

 some pics home. I'll also try and find a McDonald's or something that has WiFy but 

who knows! So far....this trip is not going super well. However, I am hopeful that 

things will improve. Well I'm off to catch a couple hours of sleep before wake up 

call at 7:30! 
 
 
June 27 8:15am (Wednesday)
  Finally ready to start the day! This morning I woke up and looked outside. Our 

view is pretty cool; the room overlooks a building cite (maybe an arena) and a 

bunch of buildings. The architecture is different and very interesting.
Emily had a heck of a time with the shower this morning. Apparently the drain is 

very slow. 
Went down to breakfast this morning. I was very 

worried at first because I didn't 

see anyone I knew and the food was...different. 

But I was quickly reassured when I

 found Jill, taryn, and Henry. The food also 

turned out good (mostly).  I had some

 excellent stir fry and some amazing Mushu 

pork with zucchini and egg. 
Our first stop of the day was to the summer palace. 

I didn't catch all the details

 but our guide talked a lot about the dragon lady.

 The best part was the taichi 

lesson. The guy who led us was a Kung fu master. He hold do part and then come and 

correct out form. I LOVED it. I would seriously do taichi if there was a class in 

Colville. We took a dragon boat ride too. Then it was lunch time. 
Yoko took us to a REAL Chinese restaurant today for lunch. The first few dishes 

were questionable, ie seaweed, tofu, and pork fat bits. But from there it got 

better. There was a good egg dish and also a yummy pork and onions dish.
After lunch we went to a souvenir shop that is famous for fresh water pearls. The

 people were very pushy and I kind of spent more money than I meant to. I'll have

 to watch myself at the next few places. But I have souvenirs for 3 people. They 

don't exactly scream "china" but they are pretty!! Next we were off to the temple

 of heaven. The temple is actually a park with 3 buildings where the emperors would

 go to worship. My feet are starting to hurt. At the park we saw some "locals" 

dancing and a few of us joined in. The women loved it. The buildings are beautiful.

 The stairs leading up are made of sand stone and have carvings of dragons. The

 buildings have no nails and are supported by 28 pillars to represent the 28 

galaxies. By the end of the temple of heaven tour I was done; my feet hurt, I was

 hot and tired. The few moments I was coherent enough to realize where I was though

,I was awh struck by the fact that I was walking where ancient emperors walked. 

The buildings were absolutely beautiful!!
For dinner we went to a restaurant established in the 1400s. Ok I'll admit it: 

it's only day one and I long for American food. We had Peking duck as one of the

 main dishes and It was...good. The duck basically tasted like chicken or turkey.

 The rest was so so. today the meals went downhill. Breakfast was the best, lunch 

second, dinner the worst. But I'm still hopeful! 
To end the day, about 8 of us ventured out of the hotel to take a walk through 

Beijing. After about 10 blocks I convinced 4 people to turn back with me. I don't

  think we were really in danger; everyone was nice and there were a ton of people.
 And pretty much all they did was stare at us. When we got back to the hotel Emily 
and i found out a fuse had blown in our room and we had to go down to the front 
next to get someone to fix it. This proved difficult since the ladies had very broken 
English and only new how to say a few things. Pictures come in handy. "it doesn't work"
 *show picture "no power." we are back on the grid now. It's 8:42pm. I'm reading for 
a bit, and then going to sleep!