Welcome to Beijing!

I have limited internet in my hostel in Beijing, and thought I'd put out a quick update.

The 24 hour train ride wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be from Hong Kong to Beijing, and I got to see so much of the country. Barring a few complications in getting to our hostel, the place is very quaint and comfortable.

Yesterday we went through Beihei Park, then into the Forbidden City and across to Tian'anmen Square (I'd like to point out that there is not actually a Starbucks in the Forbiden City as I had been led to believe - people saying "Starbucks is even in the Forbidden City!"). The weather is beautiful - sunny but cool, around 60 F. A very welcome change from the heat and humidity of Hong Kong! Today we are headed for Summer Palace and maybe even some Beijing Duck and Chinese acrobats. Tomorrow we will go to the Great Wall and the Olympic Stadium (the Bird's Nest), then later this week we will go to the Zoo and also rent some bicycles to get around (bicycling is very big here!).

Beijing is so, so different from Hong Kong. I thought living in HK would prepare me for the rest of China, but no. Mainland, and especially northern, China is quite different from the Cantonese south.

The biggest challenge has been language. No one speaks English, and nothing is in English. It's making things a bit difficult but I'm sure we'll survive.

I'll have a more detailed update, and lots of photos when I have more time, so keep your eyes peeled!