Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A Whole New Experience (Entry 7)


Day 7 (January 5 whichs becomes January 6 after crossing the International Date Line)

I used to think that a 4 hour plane ride was long. Not anymore. A 12 hour plane ride across the Pacific Ocean seems to drag for quite some time, but thanks to John Grisham and some Tylenol P.M., I arrived in Beijing partially well rested. Driving through the city, I was amazed at the size of the city. The larger Beijing area has a population of over 17 million, and if it wasn’t for the Chinese symbols, the city could have passed for Los Angeles or New York. I also noticed that the air quality was much better than I expected, but this was because Beijing had done a great deal of work to decrease the amount of smog in the air before the 2008 Summer Olympics. Our hotel in Beijing was considered 4-Star, and was without a doubt the nicest hotel I had ever stayed in. Before time for bed, the hotel staff turned down the sheets and set out slippers and robes. Also, there were light switches located beside the bed. What an ingenious idea?! After a few minutes spent freshening up, it was time for my first authentic Chinese dinner. First came the tea, and let’s just say it wasn’t like my mama’s Southern Sweet Tea. (Southern Sweet Tea is a proper noun and should be capitalized. If you don’t think so, try hot tea with no sugar.) The rest of the meal consisted of cuddle fish, which was literally whole baby fish in a strange jelly substance. Also included was an attempt at American spaghetti, and very bland wheat bread. (Good thing I brought plenty of Slim Jims and peanut butter crackers with me! )

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Tricia! It was an interesting day! Exhausted and hungry but it was worth it!

    ReplyDelete