Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Day Two (7/27/07)




Finally the plane has landed and I got my first taste of China. The hotel we are staying at is magnificent. The pictures you see are the view from my hotel room. The biggest shock for me so far has been coming out of customs with my luggage and seeing all the people. I thought about how to describe it and I can only say I now know what it was like for the Beatles when they stepped off the plane for the first time in America. There were metal gates, armed guards, and people just yelling names and holding up signs. Tonight we checked into the hotel and I was completely amazed when I turned on the television and saw a Kansas City Royals game. I am a big Royals fan and was blown away by this fact.

Here are some of my impressions from my first day in China:
1. I feel like a giant. I am only 5'8" on a good day, but everything here is my size. The height of the doors are much smaller and if I stand in my toes I can just about touch the ceiling.

2. Beijing is very Americanized. As we were driving to the hotel I noticed that all of the signs were in Chinese, but they were also in English below that. All of the building were the same way with Chinese names and the English names underneath.

3. Beijing traffic is terrible. I have never seen so much traffic in my life. I just don't mean cars either, I am also talking bicycles, bus riders, and walkers. It is just crazy.

Well tomorrow the tour actually begins, so I better get some sleep and get rid of some jet lag.

1 comment:

Amongst The Oaks said...

You think the traffic in Beijing is bad, try SHANGHAI!