We made it! Wouldn't you know that one of the worst wind storms of the year blew through Seattle the night before we left and we woke up to no power in our house along with about 1/2 of the city. We barely made it through the airport to get to our flight, but once we got into the air it was smooth sailing.


Spent our first day trying to adjust to the time change. Beijing is cold! The lake you see here is frozen and people are walking on it. Somehow "Summer Palace" doesn't quite seem like the right name this time of year.