Arrived safely - But Blog Site is Blocked from China

This will be a challenge. My blogsite - the one you are looking at - is blocked from China. I'm using Log Me In remote software to post this blog entry. The trip was not too bad. Both flights, to Narita and to Beijing, had the new cacoon pod seats that make into beds with your head surrounded in a had shelled cacoon. We did manage to get a few hours sleep, and finally arrived in Beijing at 10:30pm. Both flights had quarantine police that had to clear the flights before we were allowed to deplane, about 45-minutes in Narita and 15 in Beijing. Our driver met us at customs in Beijing and drove us in a small van to our Hotel, the Joy City Hotel adjacent to the Joy City Shopping Mall. Our location is excellent, about a 30-minute walk to Tianamin Square, the forbidden City, and Imperial Palace.

Yesterday we walked to Wangfujing Dajai, a delightful, crowded street market with endless shops in narrow alleys. The street food vendors, seemingly endless in number, served up some of the most bizzare fast foods on a stick I've ever seen. Live scorpions (I assumed they would be grilled before serving), star fish, locusts, grub like things, and dozens of people eating them like lolipops.

Today, Sunday, we strolled around Liulichang, an old and traditional shopping district, with hundreds, if not thousands, of small shops. Many of the vendors simply lay out theirofferings on blankets on the pavement in alleys and crowds of locals buy their produce snd nick-nacks from them. we then went to the Beijing Zoo. The sun was really out, not much smog, and it was hot. After seeing the giant Pandas, and walking past the tigers and lions, we decided to call it quits.

Tomorrow, our tour begins and we meet our tour guide and the other eight travelers in our group at 8:30am. It will be interesting, as our days have been starting after 10:00am, so now we need to hop to.

I'll try to post pictures to the blog, but the best way to see what I've been able to upload is to visit my Flicker site per the link I've provided on an earlier blog.