It was around 3:30 PM when we landed in Beijing, and after we negotiated customs and immigration we quickly retrieved our luggage and headed for ground transportation. There was an impressive gauntlet of drivers with signs, and we found ours at the end of the line. Peter (not his Chinese name) was there with his Viking River Cruises sign and had our name on his list. Actually we were the only ones on his list, so we were able to leave right away without waiting for any other passengers.
On our way to the hotel, Peter shared a huge amount of information about Beijing and our tour. One of the first things we learned about was the Happy House, or Happy Room. In the US, we call it a restroom, in Canada it's a washroom, and in China it's a Happy Room or a Happy House. Don't ask me why. Peter also explained that the Chinese toilet is quite different from a western one, and that the guides would rate them for us using the 1-5 star system. A 1-star is probably one we won't want to use, and the ones in our hotel will be 5-stars. He also explained that we'll want to bring our own paper; many public Happy Rooms don't have any. I was prepared for this, thanks to friends who had been to China recently. From this point on our guides were always careful to let us know when we should be sure to use the facilities in our hotel before we left for a tour. I found myself drinking much less water than I normally do.
Sooooo, after about an hour's drive we arrived at the Kerry Hotel in Beijing. The Kerry is beautiful, and the Happy Room is definitely a five-star accommodation. In fact, the toilet was a Toto model with every electronic amenity you could imagine, and some you couldn't. It's a good thing I didn't know about those when we built the house.
Since we were on our own this evening, we walked into the mall that's attached to the hotel and found a crowded noodle restaurant to get a light dinner. A bowl of soup with some pork dumplings floating around seemed just right, along with a couple of Tsingtao beers. Then we headed back to our room to rest up for tomorrow's adventures.
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