Monday 10/22 I traveled to Beijing. I arrived in late afternoon without directions to my hotel, not a smart idea when you don't speak the local language. I guess I had been spoiled in Hong Kong where there's a bit more English spoken and in Shanghai where I had a westerner as my host. Anyway, I took the bus in to town but had no idea where to get off. So, I just followed the locals and got off where most of them did. Then I caught a taxi, the first refused to take me. Lucky for me, the second driver, with a quick phone call to the hotel (here's an absolutely key travel tip: use GSM phones when traveling abroad and buy a local SIM card when you land, you'll save tuns on roaming charges and have easy access to local numbers not to mentions you have a local number to give out when you meet other traveler's or locals, or simply get lost.) delivered me to my cozy Beijing digs, where I'd stay the remainder of my nights in China, before heading home that Friday. At least that was the plan. 
The Tianxiang hotel, is an old courtyard style home and a protected cultural heritage site. The hotel grounds has three separate beautifully decorated traditional courtyards with rooms and suites located around each central yard. The I found this style of hotel by accident when looking for alternative to standard western rooms. When I was in Tokyo a few years back , I stayed at a traditional Japanese Ryokan (complete with tea set and sliding Shoji doors and evening futon turn down service), I enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd look for something comparable in Beijing. I am quite happy with my stay at Tianxiang. In the mornings I'd wake to birds chirping from their hanging cages near my window and in the evenings I'd wind down each day's adventure with a tall TsingTao (approx: 3.50 Yuan = .50 us) while sitting in the dimly lit courtyard until dinner time rolled around.
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