Ni Hao!

Well 'A Year in China' must begin with at least 1 week in China, and a week has just past since we landed in Beijing and looked up at the not-so-blue sky. It feels like we've already done so much since arriving - we don't know how we've managed to get so much done in 7 days.

Here's a taste of what we've been up to (feel free to click on some of the links):

Tues 10th: Arrive 7:30am. Check in @ hotel. Leave mobile phone in taxi...gone! Opps.

Arvo: Take subway to visit Barry and Tina (friends of ours from Adelaide who live here). Stay for Tea.

Wed: Morn-Lunch - Met a previous workmate of Michelle who now works in China and looked around the Sanlitun area where we now live.

2pm - Meet Real Estate Agent. The 3rd place we saw we put down a deposit. Nice work! [2-Bedroom apartment, 15th Floor, great view of cityscape, TV/DVD, party furnished]

5pm - Discover a sports bar called 'The Den' where they serve great pizza, show the World Cup Cricket Live and have wireless internet. We eat pizza!

Went to Donghuamen Night Market for more bites to eat, soak up some culture and walk thru the city mall and markets.

Thurs: Took in more of the sights, sounds and food of the streets around where we live. Discovered Starbucks and places to buy some western food like...cornflakes.

Fri: Went to "Chao Yang Park" and hired an electric boat and relaxed on the lake.

Sat: Shopping @ IKEA (Bought a lounge at half the price as the same one in Adelaide, Coffee Table, odds and ends)

Sun: Visited BICF.

Mon: Michelle start's work at the OZ Embassy.

PICS (click on this link to view our picture album on the web in larger and printable sizes) (...some pics may also enlarge if you click on them, but not all.)

A week before departure...


Airport FarewellPeak Hour in Beijing...
Michelle the 'Alien' registering for Temporary Accomadation...
If she doesn't register she'll be 'puneshed severly'!
The night view from our loungeroom window. You gotta double click this one! Location, location, location!
The same view during the day but with messy border...


Bedroom........................Lounge.........................Shower/Toilet Cell!.....Lounge again.....and Kitchen

Michelle's work as seen from our kitchen window. Nice and close!

Our place, 15th floor, 2nd from top. Just under some pigeon cages on balcony above us!

By the way if you have 'Google Earth' and want to see where we are and some of the sights around us, email us/leave a comment and we'll send you the automated files so you can fly in and pay a visit.

We'll tell you more soon as we continue to get settled in. Hope this finds you all well! Feel free to comment by following the links below.

(To the right you can view some news items from Beijing, and below you can view some videos relating to Beijing, both which will keep being updated as we go along.)