Beijing

First, the train ride: It was delightful (contrary to our expectations). As you can see, we had a compartment that slept 4, with individual TVs. Both squat and flush toilets were available.

Beijing is the host of the 2008 Olympics, and they are working fast and furiously to bring the city into the 21st century. All you see on the horizon are bulding cranes on the top of new high rise buildings. There are six ring roads (what we would call beltways) around the city. With a population of 17.5 million, there are still horse-drawn vehicles, bicycles, and cars.

We did the typical tourist things: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, cloisonne factory, the Great Wall, Beijing duck dinner, Chinese acrobats show, Imperial Garden-Summer Palace. Our last stop before catching our flight to Shanghai was the Free Enterprise Marketplace, which sold everything.