I checked out of the hotel this morning and went to the restaurant for a coffee while I was waiting for the taxi and shot one last picture from the veranda. I think you can see why I was more than a little sad to leave this place.

The trip to Bangkok took about two hours and I made my connections and flights to Hong Kong and then arrived in Beijing around 9:00 pm. Can't tell you much about the city from my arrival except that it's big--very big--with some 15,000,000 people living here. The man who picked me up will be in the class here--I'm not sure if he's a student or the interpreter but he speaks perfect English so either way the class should go much smoother than in Thailand. The hotel here is part of the China World Trade Center complex and is four-star which means basically it's really nice.
The hotel is located about six blocks--easy walking distance--from Tiananmen Square, Chairman Mao's mausoleum, and the entranced to the Forbidden City so I have a lot close by. Tomorrow is Sunday and I have a morning meeting with the Chevron people but if I'm free in the afternoon I'll start prowling around and shooting pictures. It's been a long day, I'm tired, and I'm headed for the shower and bed.

Hopefully a lot more tomorrow......