Ch 5: Touch Down!

Beijing is huge. We landed in Beijing at 8:30pm on July 5th. From the airplane I could see that Beijing was like Tokyo- a city that goes on forever. Back on the ground we had our first encounter with the Chinese Tourism industry. A "taxi driver" flashing an official taxi driver card wanted to give us a great deal for a ride into town. Only 300 Renminbi. He stuck around us like a hungry animal looking for food. Turns out that the actual ride from an official Beijing city taxi was only 90 Renminbi. At the very least it gave us a good point of departure for bargaining. Start at 1/3 to 1/4 of the price offered. Even more if the dude is sketchy.

Our eventual taxi driver was a cool dude that even let us use his cell phone when we where looking for the hostel and explained the roads that we were on. I had a map so I could see the guy was being honest and taking us on a direct route. Beijing is divided into Beijing Inner City (Beijing Cheng) and outer city (Beijing Wei). Most of the cool sites are in the inner city so that's where we'll be focusing our touring efforts. I have a feeling that much of China will be like this- almost too many sites and experiences to choose from so we will have to prioritize.

The Beijing Jade International Youth Hostel is one of the biggest in Beijing. The rooms were suprisingly nice and clean beyond my expectations. For 60 RMB per person (less then $8 per night) you can't beat it. We ended up hanging out in the hostel lounge until the wee hours of the morning catching the latest world cup game and sharing in the universal language that international backpackers speak. No, not soccer or football. I believe the simplist way to call it is "liquid diplomacy". The trip is off to a great start and I am psyched to experience more of what the city has to offer.