Footsteps in China Intro or Index

November 19, 2000 10:07 PM, China date and time Just arrived...Getting settled into bed at the Minzu Hotel with my roomie, Emily Sindalar. A total of twenty-seven hours from the time the bus left Oxford to when we touched down in Beijing. Didn't sleep much. Will sleep well tonight since hadn't really slept for two days. Will meet tour guide "Tony" and director "Forrest" at 8:30 AM. Beijing looks like a typical big city…lots of lights with bright colors - maybe more lights closer to Las Vegas in some areas with discothèque and lots of restaurants. The Minzu Hotel is on the most important street in China. Also on this street is Tiananmen Square, the foreign quarters for internationals working in Beijing, Oriental Plaza, and the quarters for China's upper level administrators like the president, prime minister, etc. Thought a lot about Matthew, Grandma, and Daddy, all family on the way here. How much better would this trip be if I could share it with people I love? Must endeavor to experience life with matt and Kelli and Mama and all the family I've shut out of my life out of embarrassment. Reading Robert Jordan's latest book, ninth in the series, Winter's Heart. Will read myself to sleep. Forgot - international flight was interesting and much more comfortable on the double-decker gigantor plane. Lots of perfect little Chinese stewardesses in nifty little blue suit-dresses. Had Chinese food on the plane - almost everything in the business area of Beijing I've seen so far is written in Chinese and English. Seems like much of it has become a tourist town. Boiled water and drinking bitter lavender tea. The exchange rage is US$1 = 807 yuan for cash. Night-night. I love you, Matt. Next: The "Mao-soleum," the Great Hall of the People, and the Forbidden City.