I made it to China!!! I had arranged pickup from the airport, as I arrived somewhen after 10 pm, and I made it save to a hotel, which is pure luxury after all those hostels...own bathroom with a bathtub!! But I start to miss all those people around me, alarm clocks that ring at 5 am, funny fights over pans and the stoves in the kitchen....
I took the subway ( pretty easy to get around with ) to the Tiananmen Square, and there I stood...in front of the Gate of Heavenly Peace, still giggling ( See'-I'm turning into a Chinese after only one night ) in disbelieve that I made it here... I've seen it on TV before of course, but it's such something special when you finally stand in front of it....there's a HUGE HUGE western shopping mall very close, I kept on walking up the street till the big shops dissapeared and it became more " autentic". I walked through some food markets, and the variety and all those smells of different food is just unbelievable, it will take ages to try all the different things, whatever they may be. I walked to the Temple of Heaven ( I'm not sure if this is the correct name, I don't have my map at hand ) , it took me twice as long to get there as it should have because I couldn't take my eyes ( and camera ) off of all those CYCLISTS that take one lane of the street for themselves: businessmen in suits, men with their women sitting behind them, people transporting all kind of things, an old grandpa that was so slow that I overtook him several times on foot....gonna go to the summer palace today, and there's so much more to see!!!