I left Bangkok on time for my flight to Beijing on Egypt Air not knowing what to expect from them. I was not sure if this was going to be a scary flight ala Air India or not. I got to the airport and checking was a breeze - almost no line, but the flight was delayed 2 hours. So, I kill time by eating, reading and just bumming around. I head to the gate, call the hostel I have booked to let them know the plane is delayed, then board. Luckily, Egypt Air is not quite so bad - it is a new Boeing 777 and the flight is fine (except it is another 90 late due to in flight and on runway delays). I breeze through immigrations and customs and find the driver from the hostel (I payed 150yuan/~$20 for the pickup which is really not that great a deal). The driver is apparrantly not happy as I am late, but since he speaks almost no English and I speak less Chinese, I simply try to say sorry and pretty much it is his problem (after all, they had my flight number...and these things happen). So I get to the hostel and check into a dorm bed and pretty much crash.

In the (late) morning I make my way towards Tiananmen Square and just to walk around. On my way there I go by China Mobile to get a SIM card for my phone. Things seem easy enough, but as I am finalizing things (they have more paperwork for this then is needed...) I find out that I can't use international SMS messages with this SIM card which is one of the most frequent things I do. Nope, I need a *different* SIM card. Since it has already taken 60 minutes and takes another 30 minutes to find out what SIM card I *supposedly* need and that they will charge me $2 in monthly charge for the 4 days in August, I just ask to get my money back and will get the card later. Of course this takes 3 more phone calls and 20 minutes to do, but by then I am starving and tired of the effort.

So I head out and look for the closest place to eat. Since the nearest place to eat is McDonald's, I decide to look for the *next* closest place ;) So I end up in a pricey roast duck type restaraunt and order my first meal in China - chicken with chillies and some rice. I finally get my meal which is not bad except for the way many chicken dishes here are prepared - chicken meat chopped in bite size complete with bone (little bit of bone with every bite! grrr...).

After eating, I head off to Tiananmen square where I am accosted by a couple "English speakers" who try to get me to go see an art show. Along the way I run into a girl who I still am not sure if she was a tourist as she claimed or a "professional English Speaker". She accompanies me as I explore a bit and then head to a shopping street near Tiananmen square where we go for Tea. This is where I am not sure if she was a pro or not. We head for a tea house which is pretty much the first one we come across and spend maybe 90 minutes with a whole tea ceremony and drinking 10 kinds of tea. It was a nice time, and there were quite the variety of tea (most very good that I have never seen or tried), but when the bill comes it is about $160! Ouch. She paid her half, but still, split that and it is some expensive tea! Of course on the way out, there is a price board and it lists the prices as were billed. In the end the tea house had to discount a bit more (since I did not have the cash). Like I said, not sure if she was a very adept tout or not...either way, I learned tea can be very expensive in China and to look or ask for prices first...

After tea, I headed back for the hostel, stopping at Tianenmen Square to watch the flag-lowering ceremony. This was really not that exciting, but it was interesting to be a part of the mob of Chinese tourists watching it. When the ceremony finished, I met another (probably the only) western tourist that stayed for the ceremony, and chatted with him a bit. Since it turned out he was headed for the same hostel and was from America as well, we walked and chatted, got back to the hostel and then went out to eat. Dinner was at a small restaurant down the street and we shared pork with garlic shoots, (lamb) dumplings, rice and beer and the total was about 1 tea. A good bargain! Also another lesson - the same thing can be expensive or cheap in China. The same beer can cost 3yuan/0.35USD in a small restaurant or 15+yuan/2+USD in a modestly fancy bar (or 2yuan/0.25USD).

Afterward getting back, I went for a few more beers and had to join a couple of girls from Sweden and another American as seats were hard to come by. It was a pleasant time and I spent a total of $0.50 on beer... Since the girls were going to walk to the Temple of Heavan the next morning, I decided to join them as it was too late to book a tour to the Great Wall. After having 2 beers, I headed off to the dorm room to get some sleep...