Hanging in Beijing

After a very long flight with a short lay over in Hong Kong,now sitting in the beautiful Beijing Hilton. Our flight was an hour longer than anticipated due to having to avoid volcanic ash from Iceland and a revised flight plan taking us South of the original route. Food was great on Cathay Pacific and not bad on DragonAir; my vegetarianism was fully accommodated and I felt nurtured .The
Hong Kong airport is massive and beautiful with so many shopping and eating choices! My luggage was momentarily displaced and I was overjoyed to be reunited with it. One person still has not found his! Our guide, Bruce, entertained us all on the 20 minute drive to the hotel. Beijing is covered with several towering cement mega structures of various skyscrapers. What a wonderful blessing to finally get a shower and be off the plane! Our hosts welcomed the group with an incredible Buffett of aromatic and visual pleasing entrees, vegetable dishes, and yummy desserts. Traffic is non stop here; people are friendly and open; I can see myself living here and fitting in! Many of the other 36 professionals and guests have called it a night; I acclimated to China time at noon and since we will be summoned early food breakfast before our first briefing, I will bid you good night from beautiful Beijing!