Day 1 - Beijing

We got up early this morning and met our guide - Josephine and started our tour at the Olympic venues. The whole setup was amazing with the birds nest, water cube, and other venues in the same area.

Next we visited a Children's Center where kids take classes in music, dance, art, etc. Below is a class of 4 year olds taking dance and they all are so well behaved.

Here is a class of kids learning to play the Chinese instrument, the Zither. Briley is also taking a class at home each Sunday learning to play it.

These student are learning the art of calligraphy, the writing of chinese characters. The kids were all so excited to show us their work.

Next we visited the Temple of Heaven.

Then we went to Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City. The forbidden city was amazing. It was large and we kept going thru gates and you think you would be done and you were in a new part of the city. It was beautiful and we walked over a mile and didn't see it all. There were so many large buildings, courtyards and Imperial Garden.

We were amazed to see so many people everywhere we went. Beijing has 18 million people and we saw about 1 million of them. We also evidently are celebrities here as many people were taking pictures of us. Tomorrow we get to meet a high government official at a welcome ceremony at the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Newspaper reporters will be there to cover the event. Afterward we do the Great Wall and the Summer Palace.

The smog here is pretty bad. It is very hazy even on a bright sunny day. The weather has been in the 20's at night and 40's during the day.