After one round at the breakfast buffet this morning, Andrea is already asking why food is so much better in China.  I mean why can’t we have steamed buns, seaweed and pickled baby octopus for breakfast every day?  Actually her breakfast tastes are a bit more western leaning more towards eggs and potatoes but she did enjoy some noodles and the steamed buns.  We apparently are in the midst of the coldest winter in 30 years in Beijing.  A nice even 0 degrees Fahrenheit and hoping to climb to 20 today.  Just acclimatizing us for Harbin we suppose.  After breakfast we joined up with another family, made up of a mom and two older girls, that had arrived early for our tour.  When we saw that the Forbidden City had not made the itinerary for the group, it was one motivation to arrive a day early so we could make sure Andrea was able to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  Also, as it turned out, a great opportunity to put the flannel lined kakis bought for Harbin to the test.

Andrea had originally expressed a little bit of skepticism about traveling with a group.  That skepticism quickly evaporated on our first day as she had two new friends, Leanne and Mia, to run around with.

David had tried to do some reading up on taking pictures in sub freezing temperatures in preparation for their visit to Harbin at the end of the trip.  He quickly discovered that what he had read about the impact of the cold on camera batteries was in fact true as the camera bought in preparation for this grand adventure ran out of juice a few steps inside of the Forbidden City.  Of course having read about this previously David had purchased two extra batteries to have on hand.  Of course David being David forgot to put the extra batteries in the camera bag that morning.   Ah well, that is why we still have those pocket cameras.

So it was Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, a tea ceremony and an amazing acrobat show on our first day of touring.  Andrea really enjoyed running around with  Leanne and Mia.

We got up on the morning of the 22nd and took the hotel shuttle to the airport after enjoying the breakfast buffet at the Embassy Suites.  We departed L.A. at 11:50 a.m. on Saturday 12/22 and arrived in Beijing at 4:40 p.m. on Sunday 12/23.  While at the airport in L.A. Andrea found her Oscar for best daughter.

Travel was pretty uneventful and Andrea was pleased she had her own entertainment system on the seat in front of her.  This also pleased us as there were very few “are we there yets?”  We were on a Boeing 777 which was pretty comfortable in coach for the almost 13 hour flight over.  In Beijing we were met by one of the guides for the larger Gladney group we will join on Christmas day who took us to our hotel.

Andrea had a blast at our one day stopover in L.A. which was spent at Disneyland. We stayed at an Embassy Suites near LAX and rented a car the first thing in the morning for the drive to Disney. The Budget car rental location was just across the street from the hotel which made life easy.   Andrea still prefers the rollercoasters and simulators to the tea cups and “it’s a small world” (which I can report we did not ride so thankfully no song stuck in my head for the next three weeks as we tour China).

She did still get a kick out of giving various Disney characters big hugs, playing the fiddle with a cast member and visiting Santa. She insisted we go swimming after we got back to the hotel in L.A. so, as she said, she did not pack her swimming suit for nuth’n. So after returning the rental, we headed to the pool. Fortunately an indoor pool since the temperature was ranging between the 40’s and 60’s even in L.A.