Welcome to Beijing! First sight of China ...

After 8 hours of flight we began our descent into Beijing, while flying over the snowy mountains of the Gobi Desert ... An impressive range!

I go for a week to discover the last Olympic Games host city. The Great Wall and Forbidden City are of course in the program, but until I see this new landscape, in which I have to work my way to reach my hotel.

Direction the airport shuttle that takes you directly to the city center ... provided you know if your hotel is more on the side of Dongzhimen, or Zichunlu Xuanwumen ... Hmmm ... The first problem! Anglo-Chinese couple tells me the line 4 stop 6, then I suggest taking a taxi to the hotel! Here we go!

On the bus everything is said in Chinese and in English, so I do not count the stations ... 40 min later I'm in Beijing! Building building ... when you hold us! Taxis are waiting for me when leaving the bus: the top! Except that no one knows the address that the hostess led me ... Oops ... What next? I leave my laptop here but no network! I try to dock with a Chinese business holding suitcase his English must be understandable ... But no! Do you speak English? No? Sure? It thickens here ... My little Chinese guide gives me "zuijin of ditie zhan zai nali? "No more ... it does not know where is the subway ...

I'm in Beijing, it's fine, I'm in a bus station that leads I know not where, not knowing where I am, no one speaks English ... Seeking a plan while flipping through my guide, my Chinese business comes to see me with an English shy, and I propose to call my hotel to check the address ... Ahhhhh! Thank you! The address is good, other taxi arrived, and magical, one of them knows the area and agrees to take me!

Finally nothing too bad to begin with, I found the hotel without problems, and I have two hours before dusk to go around the neighborhood. The lake is frozen (at least 15-20cm!), And at a street corner I attend the ceremony at the Drum Tower Drum ... Welcome to Beijing!

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