Arrival in Chengdu

So i just got into Chengdu where i will be spending the next 3 weeks in. The flight off the west coast and up toward the north pole is amazing. I have always wanted to go to Alaska, so getting to see the mountains of it were pretty cool. Then for the next 4 or 5 hours you cross over nothing but ice, obviously the Arctic Ocean, but i found it so interesting to see the different formations of ice in the water below. After the Arctic, you get to land masses of snow and then out of no where HUGE ass mountains show up and it is nothing but mountains and snow for thousands of miles. The flight monitor said it was -76 degrees outside.

Other than looking out the occasional window and marveling that i got an exit row with 4 feet of leg room, it was a pretty boring flight. Over 12 hours to be exact and though i am sure Air China is known for it's great in flight food, the meals were pretty bad. And believe me, in this blog, you know that if I can't eat it, it must be horrible. IE.. the pork that came with dinner was slimmy, no taste, and felt like liver.

So we got in Beijing and were utterly overwhelmed and confused on what to do, where to go. I think the overkill of signs in Ideograms (Chinesse characters) in a foriegn language is what did it.

Now i am in Chengdu all checked into my hotel. This picture is of the "butter" statue in the hotel lobby. I figured the more tired i get, the less likely i will be tired tommorow and then my body will naturally adjust. Either way, i get 2 days off to soak in the culture and adjust to China-time.

FYI: If Coke, didn't have such a international appearance, i wouldn't have got it knowing it was a coke.