Beijing

What an exciting evening!
 
An hour or so prior to our first official event I took the liberty to walk the streets sightseeing.  Our hotel is a few blocks from Tiananmen Square.  The Grand Hotel Beijing is on a major thoroughfare which, if you were to look quickly, resembles a major thoroughfare in most East Coast large city business districts. However, like in most cities, the real flavor of the city lies beneath.  Two blocks from our hotel I found the most amazing Chinese market filled with vendors offering noodles and other soup dishes to mitigate the edge of the cold.  Lots of dishes served on a stick: from fruits to vegetables to meats.  On this market street there was even a Chinese street theater performing!