Arrival

We arrived in Beijing at 2:45 pm. We were all so excited to finally be there. We made our way through customs and all the entrance stations, and were swished away to baggage claim! After getting our luggage, Hallelujah all of us received it, we looked up to see our In-country travel manager welcoming and waiting for us. We jumped on the private motor coach for an air-conditioned ride and refreshments. Riley, our travel manager, kept us entertained the whole ride! We arrived at our beautiful hotel and had some time to freshen up. We then met our group for a briefing of what great adventures will await us tomorrow!

The hotel treated us to an excellent authentic Chinese dinner. Michael, our second in-country travel manager, taught the group how to use chopsticks the right way. Before we got dinner we had to prove our chopstick skills. Our task was to snatch an oiled peanut from a huge bowl at the center of the table. We all accomplished it, after a couple practice tries, but Rita shined BRIGHT. She was able to snatch 4 peanuts with her chopsticks at once. What an excellent performance!

Dinner was fabulous. We had at least 12 selections of beef, lamb, pork, seasoned fresh vegetables, sautéed mushrooms, noodles, and much more. It was amazingly divine! That is when the urge to sleep began to overwhelm us. We all headed to bed with our tummies full, minds excited for tomorrow, and bodies utterly exhausted. Beijing awaits us in the morning!

- Stephanie Wolfe