We're Finally In China

We're finally in China after 21 hours of travel time, which includes the time from when we left the house until we landed in China. Our flight from St. Louis to Chicago ended up being delayed 2 hours. We were suppose to have a 2&1/2 hour layover in Chicago, but by the time we arrived, our flight was already boarding. Our guide in Beijing was at the airport to meet us and got us a van to our hotel and even checked in at the hotel for us. We were out on our own then for dinner, though. We opted for Pizza Hut, which is funny because I can't remember the last time I had Pizza Hut at home. It was ok, but tasted a little different. The Pizza Hut here has some unusual toppings like salmon, shrimp, and corn. We just had chesse. So far the thing that's made the biggest impression on me here in Beijing is the air quality. Some call it smog, but it's from pollution. We also stopped in a grocery store called Carre Four that's close to our hotel. We went to buy bottled water since you can't drink the water here. A bottle of water made by Pepsi that would cost a dollar or more at home was 11 cents. Diapers, however, seemed twice as expensive here for Huggies, which may be why many babies/toddlers here wear the split pants. If you've never heard of split pants, they are pants that are split in the middle so that the child just has to squat to go. They do not wear diapers with them. Tomorrow our guide is taking us to the Grat Wall, The Forbidden City, and TianAnMen Square.