29 August 2009 day 1 in China

Well, as they say, the best laid plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy.... not to suggest that China is an enemy but I am not liking their internet firewall system. They have, for likely valid reasons, blocked access to social networking sites including facebook and my blog site..... so, no blogging while in China. The following are therefore copies of the mass emails I sent while in China.
OK, so we left the house in Ottawa at 730 am on the 26th of August. Our flight to Toronto left on time (this is notable as it was Air Canada). Arrived in Toronto with no difficulties. A lovely four hour layover allowed us to visit the airport, have some lunch and read a little. The flight to Beijing was on a Boeing 777 (pretty darn big aircraft) and we got three seats on the port side of the plain just behind the wing. We were rather jealous of the business and first class as they had `pods`to sleep in. We, however, were compelled to sit upright for the 12+ hour duration of the flight. Not great for the boys and kind of sad for me as my feet dangle and don't reach the floor. Much stiffness resulted, but well worth it in order to visit the middle Kingdom. We arrived in Beijing having slept very little and watched many many movies (Ryan watched 4 movies and three tv episodes). While we had been fretting about how much cash we were allowed to bring to the country and whether we would get in trouble with customs... we found the customs to be very relaxed and informal but boy were they concerned about swine flu. We went through at least two visible) temperature scanners before being allowed in the country. We were met at the airport by our Guide Lily and escorted to our hotel. The hotel is lovely and rather luxurious... except for the cot that we had for Ryan. We are all sharing the same room and it has a king size bed and a portable cot. Hard is not quite accurate when describing it. It is actually made of wood boards with a cloth cover and a very slim mat over it. Good for the back i guess. The king size bed is not much softer. However it came with nice soft pillows. Ryan's bed, well my mom would have loved the pillow as it was stuffed with beans and probably very good for you but a bit hard and bumpy for those of us used to soft squishy pillows.We managed to stay up for supper then a quick shower and off to bed. In the morning I discovered that my converter has two settings: high and low, and that my hair straightener should have been set on low.... I have a bit less hair now..... The back was fried a bit and 2 months later still hadn't recovered and a whole section just above my ear came off in the straightener! The room smelled a lot like burnt hair. Just added to the ambiance. Must be off, will provide more about our first full day in Beijing once we return from our trip to the temple of heaven. Val