OK, we are finally home - and how good it is to sleep in our own beds (not the concrete Chinese mattresses), and be able to brush our teeth using water from the faucet! Aaahh, the little things in life! I will continue to post for about another week or so, try to upload some pictures, and fill in the many gaps in our travels. We were quite surprised to find out that we could not access our blog from China, after setting it up at home. I guess after the Chinese authorities saw what happened after the Iranian "elections", they did not want something similar happening with the riots in western China, and so cut off all access to blogs and twitter.

Just general impressions for now tho - the flights are as grueling and unending as I remember. This time, I was sure I would sleep on the plane for the first time ever, with the help of my new best friend Ambien! However, even modern chemistry could not lift the sleepless curse! As I said last time we left China. and this time I really mean it - next time we go to China, we stop in Hawaii to break up the trip.

The crowds, especially in Beijing, were horrendous. I think that we didn't consider that it is vacation time for Europeans as well as the Chinese, so everywhere was crowded. It was really
so different from the other times we traveled in Beijing. If I had to go again in summer, I would go in early to mid June, before Chinese school kids get out in July.

China is so much more prosperous than before. New building is going on everywhere, there are tons of shops and boutiques. The sheer volume of private automobiles is staggering. It is apparent that it is no longer a government controlled economy, but rather a controlled free market economy. China will clearly be a major economic power before very long.

Later, I hope to post some pictures and tell you about our time in Beijing - stay tuned!