China - Day 1

This is my first attempt at an e-mail update to our blog since it appears to be blocked here.  I hope it works.  Anyways, we arrived without issue in Beijing and then set out to find a hostel/hotel or foreign language bookstore without a proper map.  Turns out, reviews of Kindle's city guide were spot on--totally unreadable map.  And we couldn't pick one up at either of the tourist information centers at the airport.  We did master the subway without incident (well except we can't figure out why the farecard machines don't like our money).  At a little after six when we exited the metro stop that seemed to be near a couple of the hostels we were looking for we ended up at a Novotel.  And we were quoted a room rate for about $30 more than one of the hostels seemed to be going for, so we checked in.  So much for roughing it!  But at least we got a decent night sleep and were able to start off the trip on a positive note.  Today we plan to take full advantage of the English-speaking concierege to help us ferret out a bookstore, which, we hope will result in a decent map!  Luckily the hotel is right downtown, so I think that the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square are within walking distance.  If we resolve our quest for cheaper accommodations we should be able to check out a couple attractions today as well.  Alright, I'm off to get in the shower and then see about waking up Reid.