Hello!

Now that we’re back online, we can give you an update on our latest travels.

We kicked off our time in China in Beijing. Thanks to my awesome co-worker Kevin K (thank you, thank you Kevin! :)) we had a driver for our time in Beijing who was wonderful! The driver was waiting at the airport to pick us up and was with us throughout our time in Beijing. It worked out wonderfully since we speak absolutely no Chinese, and it allowed us to be dropped off at the entrance area of tourist areas and picked up at the exit which saved us tons of time. We also enjoyed the hospitality and kindness of the driver who was great!

After being picked up at the airport, we headed straight for the Great Wall. This was the place we wanted to visit the most in Beijing so we were very fortunate that there was sun and low smog when we were there! We visited an area of the wall at Mutianyu, a slightly less touristy section recommended by several friends and co-workers.

Although I knew it was steep, I was still surprised at how steep the stairs and path seemed in person. The steps felt like a ladder!

We weren’t planning this picture but a lady who spoke almost no English insisted on taking it this way 🙂 It was way easier to just pose!

We guess an upgrade to 5 As has occurred vs the original monument!

For our second day in the city, we had a private tour guide arranged by our driver who was fantastic! She had traveled to the US and several other countries as a guide, and her English and knowledge of the sites were both fantastic.

Our visit included the major UNESCO World Heritage sites from Ming and Qing Dynasties, including the Temple of Heaven (temples visited by the emperors), the Forbidden City (primarily living palace of the emperors), and Summer Palace (summer residence of the emperor which was burned by the British & French then rebuilt). We also had a chance to see Tiananmen Square. It was fascinating to be seeing these areas firsthand after seeing them in media and textbooks for years.

Locals exercising

Chairman Mao must have been a hoopster in his day

We finished off our sightseeing in Beijing with a visit to Olympic Park and saw the Bird’s Nest Aquatic Building where Michael Phelps won so many gold medals. It was interesting to see that the building, like many Olympic structures, isn’t being used much these days (proving out the research that one Kellogg GIM Team did questioning the long-term economic payout of hosting the Olympics!)

You’ll notice that it rained our second day in Beijing… but it was actually nice as it reduced the smog. Although it was sunny on our first day in Beijing, we could barely see the sun once we came out of the mountains because of the intense smog.

Here are few things we learned in China:

-Our 4g phone was always limited to 1g when using data…
-Pricing was interesting… Some things were inexpensive (a private tour guide was very affordable here, we had the cheapest taxi ride of any international city
– Beijing’s Population > Entire State of Ohio’s Population
-We saw nearly every Asian and Western model of car out on the roads, and many cars were very nice. The interesting thing is that in between brand new cars, we saw bikes and bikes that were modified with engines and trailers.

Overall, we saw a lot and learned a ton from our time here! Now onto Hong Kong!

The hotel sent its greetings as we departed 🙂 Note: The Room Key thanked us!