Day 1 in Beijing!
After about 18 hours and 3 connections, we have arrived in Beijing! We landed at the Beijing airport last night (Friday), which would be late morning in the eastern US. Needless to say, most of us are dragging a bit -- we didn't get much sleep on the plane, or during the first night in the hotel. It's still a bit of a blur to most of the group, and I suspect most will be turning in early tonight!But, these folks are troopers. Everyone was up and out by 8 this morning (Saturday). We started off with a breakfast of boiled dough balls and eggs -- just like Mom used to make. ;-) Then we watched was has to be the world's most uh, shall we say, 'detailed' video on the Forbidden City. But, happily, it finally ended, after which we went on a tour of the campus and had lunch with our Chinese student hosts. Later we saw the actual Forbidden City, which needless to say was much more interesting than the video. In fact, it's absolutely fascinating ... and HUGE. We ended the day with a feast at the world-famous Peking Duck restaurant. Apparently a number of famous people have eaten there -- including Henry Kissinger, George Bush Sr., and Kim Jong Il (of North Korea fame). Presumably they didn't all eat there at the same time -- although that would have been interesting!
Tomorrow includes a lecture on Chinese politics in the morning, followed by a visit to the Summer Palace, and an authentic Chinese "peasant" dinner tomorrow evening. We are also trying to set up a visit to the local karaoke bar, which was a big hit last year. Later in the week we visit the Great Wall. So definitely expect a picture from there!
By the way, several of the students have said exactly the same thing: "I still can't believe I'm in China!"
Finally, just to prove that we are indeed in China, I'll finish below with a photo of the group in front of the Tiananmen Gate, which leads from Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden City. And as you can see it includes the famous portrait of Mao Tse-Tung in the background -- and presumably someone you know! ;-)
More to come ... ;-)
posted by Dr. William Spangler @ 8:45 PM
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