Flying into Beijing in anticipation of the Great Wall of China
What a dream to be flying into Beijing, landed at Beijing Capital International Airport . This is now my 4th flight on this 3 week trip in China. My excitment builds, looking forward to climbing the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, and the Forbidden City. I sit quietly on China Airlines writing to my family ... time by myself to write etc. seems to take the 'back burner' as I wake up early and the day is filled with exploring China and before I know it, it's time to get some ZZZ's. Here's some photos of places I went to and the most likely places you'll see if visiting Beijing!!
The first thing I noticed landing in Beijing was the thick air ... it was hard to even see the airport ... perhaps it was just a bad day where pollution just so happened to be high .
After relaxing for a little, our tour guide returned and brought us to the Summer Palace, where the Qing emperors used to live during summer to escape the heat, the colour there was great ... each part of the Summer Palace is/was being re-painted to prepare for the summer Olmpians, there friends and relatives, and the influx of tourists visiting this summer with the Summer Olympics being held in Beijing .... places like the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, and of course the Great Wall of China will be highly explored this coming summer .
On January 5th, 2008 it was a was chilly ~-7, pretty warm to Canadian winters but for me, vrrrrrrrrr, even with my 5 in one coat the cold air gave me the chills, so at the end of the Summer Palace I bought a coffee to warm up and looked at all the souvenirs and picked up a tea cup for my mother-in-law.
The architecture in Beijing is so intricate, so complex ... to think I still have much more buildings to see throughout mainland China. I can't help but photograph the buildings from all angles ... my first 2mb HD card is filling up fast ... looks like I'll need to buy another one; all I need is to go up the Great Wall of China tomorrow and find out, when I'm at the top, I have 'run-out' of memory. It's hard to decide what to take photos of, to me everything looks so unique and awesome ... beats the rectangular buildings in Canada
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What Xi Xi You Yi Hotel has is very clean rooms, it's safe, and this hotel is close to many ammenities; based solely on this, I'd go there again ---
A coin set (I bought) and my passport was locked up in a SAFE the hotel provided ... I left my luggage open in my hotel room whenever touring ... nothing was ever taken ... so as far as theft, this is a great place to go
Xi Xi You Yi Hotel overall, was a farely nice place to stay in, if I was to exclude the noise of a chain saw and the smell of tar! I assume the renovations (that continued throughout the night) was happening because of the upcoming Beijing Oympics this August 2008, but that's no excuse for only warm coffee with my breakfasts I had there. Then again I had their breakfast buffet; if I'd pay for a classy breakfast in their restaurant I'm sure the service and quality would have been better ...
Since I booked a 9 day Asian tour through an agency, this and other hotels were booked by them and where we would eat, I could of opted for full service but then the overall trip's cost would of been higher ...you do get what you pay for
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