We arrived in China

Hi Mad-City and Friends,

We've arrived safely in China!!!  It was a long and painful day of travel.  We were on an airplane for 14+ hours - we had an hour delay in Chicago for mechanical issues and a 13 hour flight to Beijing.  The flight was so full that they had to bump 10 people off.  We were packed in like sardines.  Very crowded, very uncomfortable, but it was a smooth flight and we made it safely. 

The blog site is blocked here in China.  So is facebook.  Any updates I send out will be strictly via email.  I've attached some pictures of our arrival in Beijing.  The airport is beautiful.  We met our translator/host, Peter.  Peter will be with us the entire week.  Very nice guy.  It was quite a process getting all of our luggage and ski bags, going through customs, getting currency exchanged, loading a bus and getting to our hotel.  Needless to say, it's 3:00 a.m. here in Beijing, many of us have slept very little, and we are up at 7:30 again to catch a flight from Beijing to Liuzhou.

Enjoy the pictures!!  Everyone is safe and sound in Beijing!!