First night in Beijing

Why is Ariel smiling?  She had a great dinner but managed to forgo the braised donkey, the bullfrog, the fish heads and the rabbit.  We chose a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel and had a very delicious meal.   The bill was 80 yuan, about 13 dollars!

Beijing street.  The stores were closed but street vendors were out selling noodles, candles, clothes, purses in front of the stores.

We ventured down an alley, where people were cooking noodles outside tiny stores.  Behind David, a lady was sitting at a desk with three very old phones on them.  Maybe she was selling phone calls (definitely she was not selling phones).

Tiny cars with three wheels.  They make Smart cars look big!

Hotel lobby

Another thing about being in China... it's like being in a zoo.  Being an animal inside the zoo.  People stare and laugh  (yes, laugh!).  Yesterday a few older men on bicycles pointed at us and started to shout to each other, then they all cracked up.  Another man came up behind David and stood about a foot away, looking at him as if he were a circus curiosity.   Mostly it's Ariel and me who seem to be the oddities.  As two tall Americans with blonde and red hair, we definitely look different!   Still, it gives me more appreciation for the pandas we're going to see later today at the zoo.

I woke up at 1:30am and couldn't go back to sleep.  I slept two hours on the plane.  It's possible I can actually function without sleep, which means I'm ready for Kavanna!!  

Three days until Kavanna Day!!