Tuesday Morning
Upon arriving in Beijing we flew into the brand new terminal--a beautiful facility which was not here one year ago! We went through immigration and customs, then took a tram to the older facility to collect our baggage and then a bus into the city of Beijing.
The flags are flying at half staff here in memory of the thousands of victims of the recent earthquake in Chengdu. The government has called for three days of mourning with no celebrations of any kind to take place during these three days. Because of this, our plans will change as there will be no performance of the Beijing Opera.
We had dinner last evening at a restaurant near our hotel and were able to experience donkey, fried eggplant, fried milk with sweet sauce, noodle and cabbage salad, potato salad, lamb, vegetable eggrolls and drinks including Sprite and Coke. Paying for our meal was interesting as we learned a small five is worth our fifty cents--not five yuan.
It's Tuesday morning and we are off to breakfast and will be on our way to the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.