Hello, Beijing

Here we are in Beijing. Actually, we've been here for more than 24 hours. We had a great dinner last night at the home of a colleague. Lots of yummy Chinese food, cooked with a lighter touch, clean water, real ice, wonderful company. The 3 children are completely bilingual. We had a lovely time, and JieJie was kindly asked back for a pirate birthday party today, but we opted for the Hong Qiao market and some commando shopping.

Hong Qiao was amazing. We didn't get past the second floor. We have some cute silk outfits for the girls in different sizes, silk shoes, tablecloths, pillow covers. We should get all our holiday shopping done by the end of this trip. It's a good thing there are no handbag addicts in this crowd. (You know who I mean.)

JieJie was a huge hit. She had her eye on a belly-dancer scarf covered with jingly coins. A vendor tied it on her, she wiggled her hips and it was all over. Everything we bought for JieJie, she carefully found in another color for MeiMei, except the jingly scarf.

We had hoped to walk the old alleyways, or hutong, but it's very rainy today. The city is quite polluted, and the quality of light on a cloudy day like today was about the same at 6:30 a.m. As at 10 a.m. (JieJie got up at % a.m.)

The beds are rock hard, and the "soft mattress" advertised in the hotel guide is unavailable. There are thermostats, but they don't work, and a fridge permanently set on lukewarm. The hotel guide also offers "fanners, for those who do not like Air Conditioner,'' and the closets are equipped with gas masks. That being said, the coffee is not bad, the room is very pretty and we can get a 5-minute Internet connection every few hours.