We arrive in Beijing the evening of February 11th, after a mega-hour set of flights from the Twin Cities. We stop in Toyko and pick up another couple from our travel group, Dan and Anne.
I don’t remember much about the flights other than it was long, John was crabby, and I was chatty. The chattiness was Valium-induced, and made all those endless flights so much more tolerable.
Check in at the hotel, get the luggage in the room, turn on CCTV, and crash. Wake up at 2:30am.
I love Beijing. It is so cool. I pinch myself — I can’t believe I am in China, and back in Beijing. It feels as familiar as Chicago, and with map in hand, I’m having a grand old time running around.
The morning of the 12th, Carl, Kelly, John, and I take off to walk from our hotel to Tiananmen Square. A simple, 4 mile walk straight east, as our hotel is on the main drag that goes between Tiananmen and the south gate of The Forbidden City. The four of us have grand adventures, and just take everything in.
I think this is the pedestrian bridge over Wangfujing Street — the street with everything on it. Over the course of our stay, we’ll wander Wangfujing twice, and have a blast each time.
We finally get 
to the south gate, after stopping at a McDonalds to get some Cokes and Coke Lights (that’s Diet Coke in China). We really work up a thirst walking our way down the street. The weather is perfect for a winter day’s stroll.
John and I stop for a photo op with GreatGrandpa Mao. Then it’s through the underpass and up onto Tiananmen Square.
We wander around, taking photos. It is so much fun to watch Carl and Kelly absorb everything around them.
We are not the only tourists. However the other tourists have Chinese faces. So we do stick out a bit. A friendly smile goes a long way.
A hunt for a bathroom, and a realization that I have big blisters on my feet. &#^*$($!! socks. We decide to brave the subway back to our hotel.
Thanks to a friendly Australian who teaches us The Ways of the Beijing Subway, we buy our 3 yuan (36 cent) tickets and hop on the next west-bound subway.
What a blast! We only vaguely know where we are going, and I am matching up characters on the subway map with the map in my backpack. Kelly and I are giggling. The subway population either looks at us and wonders if we are absolutely insane or understands that we are having a grand adventure and smiles at us.
We get off the subway, and I walk one more painful mile back to the hotel. I’m too embarrased to want to hire a pedicab, and fortunately, most of them have either vanished or are occupied.
I don’t remember much about the rest of the night, except that my feet hurt like hell. But I had a good time with fellow adventurers, a ton of pictures, and I was looking forward to what the next day would bring.