A couple funny things, tho - when Debbi and Olivia and I got checked into our hotel room, the first thing I tried to do was (of course) get the netbook up and running. All I did was plug the converter into the wall (with nothing else plugged into it) and blew out the power for the whole room. Sheez! What a great beginning! We had to call the front desk for help. I'm sure the desk-guy was saying, "Stupid Tourists!" He came to the room, grabbed the little garbage can and took it back to the door. He turned it upside down, hopped on and popped the ceiling tile out of the way. The breaker was just above. He had everything back on within a moment. Obviously, he'd done this A LOT. He just laughed. So - when I did it again just alittle while later (I can't remember what I plugged in then, maybe the camera battery charger) I knew he'd fix it in a jiff, even tho I was very embarassed to call again. But - Debbi grabs the garbage can and does it herself! She actually touched live Chinese electrical equipment! She is very brave! They just don't have a very stable electrical system over there and you can lose power any time for no reason. One of the pictures I regret not getting was during our walk to dinner that night, just around the block from the hotel. There was a MASS of electrical wires all balled up and dangling down on the sidewalk from an electric pole - live electrical wires where anyone could grab them, or walk right into them. But, of course, the locals were to them and so they knew to simply avoid them.
The other funny thing was the mini bar display on the room counter - alcohol and condoms, very tastefully arranged. I guess that language is the same no matter where you go.
OMG! I really was in a brain fog when we got to Beijing ... I thought that was tea!
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