Beijing Day 1- Toto, We are not in Kansas anymore!

We are here in Beijing! It about 3:30 pm China time and we have been in our hotel room a few minutes. The flight was not so bad. We once again felt very blessed! Our travel agent booked us a flight on a 777 with Continental Airlines where the seats are 3 -3 -3 across. She booked our seats with one seat in between us. She said unless the flight is booked people are less likely to choose a middle seat and she was right! So we had 3 seats together all to ourselves. We were able to put all of our stuff in and under the seat between us so we had room to spread out a little more!! It made things SO much nicer and comfortable. The airplane seemed fairly new and the entertainment was great! We had our own personal TV's with hundreds of movies, tv shows, music and video games to choose from! Shortly after getting on board, they served us lunch. It was a little bit Asian from the start. It was a sticky rice with a small sirloin steak and green beans with a red sauce. Even though we had silverware, they also gave us mini chopsticks. They were cute, but we didn't use them. It is hard enough to eat in an airplane without using chopsticks. I (Stacy) slept a bit more than Steve did on the flight! I remember it being 1:30 and I paused my movie and I got comfortable to go to sleep. Of course I wiggled and moved around a bit, but the next time I remember was between 5:00 & 5:30! Steve slept some of that time too and then we caught some smaller cat naps along the way! We both watched Four Christmas's with Reese Witherspoon & Vince Vaughn. I got up and walked a couple of times and one time I met an American lady who had lived in CHINA and was going back to visit and to take care of some business. She & I stood in the back for about 20 minutes or so and talked about everything! It was nice to hear her CHINA wisdom! I really was pretty surprised at how well I did because I am not the best traveler. I get a little crazy in tight spaces, but our Pastor, Bubba gave us lots of great gear and pointers!. We both had these backpillows for lumbar support, oh yeah! And then the neck wrap pillows, and then we each had another pillow. Then the airline had a pillow & blanket in each chair. So we were as comfortable as you can probably be on an airplane. They brought us several meals and snacks along the way so that kept us busy too! All and all it wasn't bad! Glad it is over, but not bad!
We went through customs and immigration with no problems, it was really very uneventful! We went to baggage claim and all of our luggage arrived and then we saw our guide that was holding a sign with our names on it! She called the driver and he came to get us! She speaks pretty good English, but with accent it is hard to understand everything the first time! I am sure she probably is wondering what kind of English we speak too with our Southern draw added in!! On our drive to the hotel she told us different things about Beijing and is trying to talk us into more sightseeing while we are here! She keeps telling us that we must have "Peking Duck!" She says, "It is very delicious!" She said it is a must while in Beijing, apparently they are known for it! I am a little unsure, but Steve is game! She has given us her phone number and we are able to call her 24/7 she says if we need help. She can give a taxi driver directions or help us with our room or really just help us with anything we need!
Our room is very nice, you wouldn't hardly know that you are not in an American hotel with the exception of the Chinese TV and the air conditioning being less than adequate so far! We are going to take showers and then go explore a bit and maybe find us some supper at a mall that she told us about that is about a 5 to 10 minute walk from our hotel. We are going to have to be on the move a little or we are going to fall asleep! Steve already dozed off while I was typing on the computer. Honestly, I feel alright, but all his movie watching is catching up to him! Perhaps we can post a few pictures before you Americans wake up so you can see the sights that we are seeing!