Next China

Oh, Boy - China!

There were no problems entering China. But you know you are in China. I had to pinch myself, this kid from Long Island City in New York now in China. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought this would happen. Boy, if only my mother could see me know.

We were met at the airport by Sam Wang's mom, Hong Zhen, and her translator and adviser, Sabrina. It was a heady discussion all the way

from the airport to the Beijing Hilton about college preparation and other matters that arevery important to Sam's mother. Sabrina is a very spirited individual that doesn't pull any punches and cuts to the quick right away. Raylene and I knew up front that we were in for a feisty visit to Beijing.

Without wasting any time, we were off to a buffet lunch at the hotel and in to the car for a trip to

Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City.

Awesome, just Awesome. To see these images all those years on our televisions for various reasons most recently during the Beijing Olympics. Now to actually be here! Amazing! That's me in front of the outside wall of the Forbidden City. I've included a photo of Tian An Men Square, but it really doesn't do justice to the actual visual of being there.

You cannot believe what's behind that main gate to the Forbidden City. It is a huge

conglomeration of rooms (each the size of a palace) in which the kings of China lived. The whole history is too long to get into here. Raylene tells me we all need to watch the movie The Last Emperor to get a sense of the spectacle. We walked the whole compound. It's got to be a mile or more.

From there, we were off to the Olympic Village to see the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest. These where the venues for the swimming and track events of the 2008 Olympics. That's Sabrina and her husband, Chris, with Raylene inside the Water Cube. There's a photo of me in front of the mascots. We must have walked miles today.

Now off to dinner at a truly Chinese restaurant that I cannot tell you the name. We were joined by Sam's dad, Xuetao Wang. We were entertained by traditional Chinese musicians and another artist that changed the look of his face without you seeing how he did it. An amazing act. Unfortunately I have no pictures. Raylene does and I'll share them later. I'm not going to say anything about the food, but how about a serving of chicken feet?