Beijing

The first leg of the trip has concluded blissfully uneventful, i.e. the 11-hour flight from Seattle to Beijing was punctuated by nothing more noteworthy than a couple of movies, some pretty good food, and several oddly positioned naps. You've all been there, I'm sure. The real part of the adventure starts tomorrow when we fly on to Baotou ̶ where it is -6° F.

Just to break the ice (so to speak), here is the main dish from tonight's very modern hotel.

Spicy chicken something. I believe they may have added bones from another source beyond that of the original chicken. Tasty, but careful eating at best. This is consistent with my trip last year. Beef is almost always a better choice if you are looking for something that can be chewed worry free. But not always. The noodles, we concluded, were a cruel joke I'm sure they play on all Westerners: we have no idea what they tasted like because we could never get one off the serving dish with our chop sticks. They looked good though, and we are, after all, photographers. How something looks is important to us.

Here is the Christmas Tree in the front lobby of the hotel.

As I say, a very comfortable but not altogether exotic experience so far. Just right, actually, after a long flight. The adventure part can start tomorrow and that'll be just fine with me. Off to bed, an event I fear may be titled, Adventures with Jet Lag.

Comments

[Barry Styles]

Hey Brooks, Good to hear you made it safely to Beijing. I want to know just one thing. However in the world did you get all of your gear on that Kayak?

Best,

Barry

[Tracymo]

Hi guys!!!!!

Thanks for letting us know that you made it across the ocean safely! I loved the picture of the Christmas Tree!!!! Is that Santa inside the "fence"?

Looking forward to your next installment!

Tracymo

[Douglas R Winn]

...checking in each day. You are in my prayers.