First Night in Beijing (Wednesday, May 6)

Brayden got to truly experience China with me!!  This hotel does not exchange money, so we had to go the Bank of China next door.  We get assigned a number and have to wait.  We found out it would be almost an hour wait.  So, the guide "showed me around", basically we walked down the street and she pointed at some buildings on the other side.  I mentioned that I would like to get more money to exchange, to try and avoid this later, since we had time.  She mistook that for "go ahead and leave, I got this".  :(  I knew I was about to go back to the bank with LOTS of cash and Meilynn was down for the count, so Mark sent Brayden with me for protection. :)  

We had to be in the bank before 5, it closes and they finish out the waiting customers.  So, we sat for 45 minutes!!  THEY TAKE FOREVER HERE!!  Oh my, customers are at the windows for like 10 minutes each!  We watched them close up (we're talking gate and all) the main entrance we came through.  Brayden and I looked at each other.  We knew that Mark would be getting worried and we had no way of letting Mark know we were okay.  I knew if he set off, he would see the bank locked up and gate drawn and get very nervous, I also knew we needed money!  We weren't sure if we felt safer or not with the guard standing at the entrance with a VERY LARGE gun! :-O  

We finally got called up (thank goodness they showed the number in the thousands (cause neither of us knows numbers in Chinese, which they announce.  I can only get to 9).  I actually think they called us up a little early after taking pity on us.  The teller spoke English and Brayden got to watch them exchange at the rate of 6.15 yuan for every 1 US dollar.  He watched the cool money counting machine with eyes wide at the stack of money they handed us.  Then, we had to figure out how to leave.  The bank worker showed us out a back door.   I asked how to enter the hotel (which was right next door) and he pointed to a back door through a gated parking lot.  We went to the door, and saw the sign stating to use front entrance only.  Back through the gated lot to the parking guard (who gave us that "where are you going" look earlier).  He motioned over and left.  (Now important message, APRIL HAS NO SENSE OF DIRECTION!!)  Uhhhh, oh boy.  Over we walked and there was a tiny, scary alley.  Then, the alley started to zigzag. Uh oh!  Brayden and I were in the back alleys of China.  He got to see the "real" parts of China, local restaurants, hotels, and dwellings.  Finally, a local asked if he could help (he had minimal English).  I said the name of our hotel.  He pointed to a local "hotel", I said no but xie-xie (thank you) and repeated the name of our hotel.  He smiled and said OH and then pointed at where to continue zigzagging.  FINALLY, out we came!  Up to the hotel room, where Mark was getting the kids ready to come out looking for us (mind you, he didn't have the "tour", so they truly would have been wandering).  

We decided we needed to get dinner.  I was not ready to venture out again on my own right now.  So, we had poor Meilynn get up and explained we didn't have a lot of options.  Out we set for McDonalds "across the street".  This was a short walk, but across two BUSY intersections.  The kiddos learned, as our guide warned us, pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.  If you don't cross in the time, they will run over you!  So, our goal became stay in the middle of the locals!  We saw Pizza Hut and KFC, but Jayson really wanted McDonalds.  We took a "quick" look around the mall (only scratched the surface of the 5 floors, and didn't see it right away).  We decided to get KFC for Meilynn's sake and explore later.  We walked back and put Meilynn to bed.  Then, we all ate together in the boys' room (next door). 

The beds are hard and low, but that's Chinese.  We did, however, have a good night's sleep and woke up feeling better this morning.  We went down to breakfast, they have lots of American and Chinese choices.  Not the best breakfast, but we will find choices.  We did venture next door to the bakery.  There were some interesting choices. :)  We have an amazing view with all of the buildings.  The sky is a nice hazy tan, hello pollution.  It is sunny and such an awesome temp this morning.  It was fun walking, nice and cool.  It should warm up this afternoon.  We will be visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  

Here are some pics of the rooms and our view/traffic!