Ni Hao!

Ni Hao (howdy) from Beijing. The clock reads 4:30 a.m., and my body is in condition neither confirm nor deny. The jet lag has combined with the travel fatigue to rob me of all sense of time. I feel neither exhausted nor refreshed.

Last night at about 9:30 pm (Beijing time) we arrived in surprisingly good form and spirit in a dark and dusty People's Republic of China. The boys' attitudes had weathered the plane ride quite well; they are both excellent travelers. The next few hours would test our patience -- it's difficult as an adult to endure the lines at customs, immigrations and baggage -- for a child it's nearly impossible. Still, there were no major breakdowns, just a few stern warnings and and some grumpy 'hmphs.'

Our baby-faced guide, Joe, met us at the main terminal exit as our travel agent had promised, and ushered us efficiently and calmly to a minivan waiting about 200 yards away. Joe's English is accented, but excellent. He's 31, but looks much younger. He was born in Sichuan province, but has lived in Beijing since 1996 when he moved here to study English and History in college. He'd like to be married some day; right now he's saving money and trying to decide between his many girlfriends.

Save for the signs in Chinese, the road from the airport to the city center could be confused with any major artery running to any major city in the West. It's massive and modern and well maintained. It's also unusually well policed; I noticed some fifty squad cars, lights a-blazing, and at least four times that number of trim, neatly dressed officers on, beside and above the freeway. "Must be VIPs coming this way," said Joe. "Maybe Hu Jintao is back from his visit from America," I commented. Maybe. Maybe the Chinese are just really happy to see the McCollums and wanted to make sure we were given a suitable welcome.

From the road, and in complete darkness, Beijing looks enormous. Big and burly like Chicago without famous skyscrapers. It also looks quite sleepy; there are far fewer lights on than there would be in an American metropolis. Of course, by the time we reached the city it was 11pm on a Sunday, but I was a little surprised at how sparsely lit the city appeared upon arrival. And though the main streets of the city were relatively traffic-free, it was not difficult for me to imagine the capital bustling with millions of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists I'd seen in pictures.

By the time we reached our hotel, every business that isn't a hotel was closed, and it was clear that we had arrived too late to enjoy anything of the city's delicious food but the tantalizing smell that seemed to emerge from every brick of the Wangfujing Grand Hotel Beijing's marble foyer. After a few moments at the front desk, Joe handed us our room keys, shook my hand and bid us good evening. We beat the bellboy to Room 921 by only a minute or two, and after he unloaded our bags and thanked me for his tip, we began to upack, unwind and to a certain extent, unravel. We watched a half hour of American Idol (with Chinese subtitles) and hit the sack.

It took Chien quite a while to settle down, but we all finally got some badly needed Zs. Unfortunately, neither Pak nor I can sleep any longer. Thankfully, we have no big plans for the day. We're just going to relax, get oriented to the neighborhood and see what yummy things we can find to eat. Oh, and we're also going to try to figure out how to get the internet connection in our room to work...

Thanks for all of the love and prayers. So far, we're doing a.o.k.