We were up and off to the airport first thing in the morning to fly to Beijing to meet Aimee.
The pretty paintings in the Shanghai Pudong Airport. Ok, there was a lot more pretty art but I’m obviously very biased towards anything Chinese Opera related. =D
Really cool bamboo decoration. Also in the airport!
Judy read that Beijing has the world’s largest airport. We were flying into the local terminal and Aimee was flying into the international terminal. This was the most nerve-wracking moment of the whole trip. Trying to figure out if we could find each other in this humongous airport. We had this contingency plan if we didn’t find each other an hour after landing to call Aki in Shanghai and have her try to relay messages for us but it was kind of like: we were screwed if we reached that stage.
Thankfully, Aimee was totally on top of it and waiting for us when we arrive though. WHEW!
We picked a traditional Chinese hotel in one of the hutong areas. It was as awesome as it looked on the website.
Aimee and Judy’s room.
The internets were not so awesome in China. You could never tell what the Great Firewall of China was not gonna let you see on any given day.
Me trying to figure out what we were gonna do for the day… and I dunno what Judy is doing. =D
And right across the way was Marcus and my room.
Very pretty bedroom but I can’t tell you how many times I clocked my head on that bamboo decoration. >.<
We unpacked a little and then explored our hotel.
The resident kitties!
Life is tough…
We decided to check out the nearest landmark sights which were the Drum and Bell Towers. This is the bell tower from the street.
Climbing up. Argh!
We got to the top and one of the guys watching the tower was doing push-ups. Random…
You can look across the way and see the drum tower.
Back down. More arrrgh from those of us scared of heights.
The drum tower from the street.
Weird little vehicles they have everywhere. Apparently you can hire one to drive you around. We didn’t try it though.
There were a lot of loved doggies in Beijing.
Beijing is that weird mix of super traditional and modern you get in old cities. 2 blocks away from the hutong areas that have no modern plumbing are these super modern streets.
The entrance to Nanluogu Xiang – a quaint little touristy area.
Yeah lots of raised eyebrows from us while walking by this store.
Dinner time! We had dinner on their rooftop.
Biggest menu I have ever seen. Makes Cheesecake Factory’s menu look wimpy in comparison.
Thwere were all these kitties vegging out on the rooftops.
On the way back, we stopped to get chops (a seal with your name carved on it) made. I had my mom translate Judy and Aimee’s names before we left so we could all get one.
Stopping for a smoothie. The guys next to us were from California too. LOL
Our hotel looked gorgeous at night.
Tomorrow is the Forbidden City!
