day 1 in beijing

hi there. since this is our last big trip before emily heads home, we thought we'd bring you along. is that ok? this is day 1. in a nutshell, we flew with dear friends sacha and nate to beijing, china, where we were met by our portly, kindly yet somewhat nervous tour guide "Henry." he then piled us into a van, and we toured through the 50-million person city to our 26-floor, five-story hotel... a site indeed to behold. with a six-foot-long chandelier, red lanterns, bowls of gold fish, and cherry blossom trees adorning its corridors, all we could do was stare. the rest of the day was spent soaking in the amenties of 70-channel television, trying out the gloriously western-styled showers :), visiting the local supermarket and being escorted home on a chinese-style 'tuk tuk' (a bicycle taxi). the day was finished by a meal of rice noodle-soup, veggies and meat, and beer. until tomorrow...