Beijing, China

We first landed in Shanghai, where we had to board a bus to transfer to another airport to catch our connection to Beijing. I think we were on the bus from "Speed". We were scared. Mind you, we're on the freeway going about 60 mph in a bus - changing 3-4 lanes at a time without slowing down. This was our introduction to Chinese driving.

We did make it to the next airport where we were promptly raped at airport security. It was the worst security checkpoint I have EVER been through! Eventually we got to Beijing ...

Here is Michael looking out at the city of Beijing on our first morning:

I was bringing back my old barista skills and making us some coffee in the french press:

This building was awesome!

Our first tourist spot in Beijing was The Temple of Heaven. To get to The Temple of Heaven, you have to walk through Tiantan Park. China does take very good care of their elders - they give them free public transportation to any of the public parks so they can socialize, dance, sing, play cards, practice Tai Chi, play hackey-sack, etc. This old man was practicing his calligraphy with a giant brush and water on the sidewalk (he was writing ancient Chinese poetry).

Some of the beautiful gardens in the park:

A whole group of people doing a choreographed dance with a sword:

Me standing next to the the "long corridor". The "long corridor" is packed full of people singing, acting, playing cards, etc. We received a lot of stares while walking through here. We also learned to say "Boo-yow" (that is my interpretation of how it sounds) ... it means "I'm not buying anything" and gets some of the vendors to leave you alone. We used it A LOT.

Here is a view of the top portion of the walkway:

Me outside of The Temple of Heaven:

There was even a ribbon-twirling group:

This was headed back to our hotel at night - the buildings were all lit up:

Enjoying a tasty beverage at the Hard Rock right next to our hotel at the end of day 1: