The next morning, a taxi driver called to tell us he was waiting for us downstairs.  We went down, checked out and boarded the taxi.  We asked the driver to drive us to the Chinese Hamburger place for breakfast.  Then we asked him to take us to a post office, so we could send some postcards out.  We drove around for a while and could not find a post office!  We finally found a post office and went into what I thought was the post office, it however turned out to be a bank.  Apparently, the China Postal Service, in order to keep afloat due to the decrease in mail has started its own bank!  The bank portion of the post office opened at 9:00, but the mail division did not open until 9:30.  We drove around for another half an hour with a tour of the Ancient City Wall that surrounds Central Xi’an.

We found another post office after 9:30 and Kathy and I went in to mail the postcards.  I was told the postcards would cost 4.50RMB (68¢ US) to mail.  I asked to buy an bunch of stamps, but I was told I could not do that because the largest denomination stamps come in is 80¢ RMB, so I could need at least 6 stamps to mail the postcard and I would not have enough room for the address.  I would have to go to the post office each time, so that they can just print a stamp label for the postcard. 

The taxi driver then took us to the mausoleum, we got there and saw the admissions price and decided against it.  So, we had the driver take us to the airport an hour early.  Airports in China are not clearly separated like airports in the US, where giant signs tell you where the ticket counters are.  The ticket counters are separated by sections and numbers, depending on the size of the airport, you check the monitors and look to see where you check-in.  For example, if you are checking into China Southern Airlines, you have to go to Section A, counters 17-21 or something like that.  The airport in Xi’an is relatively small, we quickly find the counter that we need to go to and get checked in.  As we check-in, we are told that I flight had been indefinitely delayed.

We go through security and find out gate and take a seat.  While we were waiting, Mun called Kathy and we were informed that there was a typhoon in Guangzhou.  The rains started the previous day and had not let up since.  After a bit of thought, we come to realize that the plane that we were supposed to take to Beijing should be the one that we had taken from Guangzhou, hence the delay.  Around noon, the airline provided each passenger with a boxed lunch, drink and fruit because of the delay.  We were finally told that our flight should take off around 2:30, which would be an approximately two hour delay.  The plane finally came in and after boarding, it was smooth sailing to Beijing.

We finally got out of the Beijing Airport close to 5:30.  We caught a taxi that took us to our airport for approximately 94RMB ($14 US).  The Luxury Serviced Residence was a bit hard to find, it was on a little private driveway on a small street between two major streets. 

This hotel is similar to a Residence Inn, where the units have kitchens and some have bedrooms.  I had booked us in a one-bedroom unit.  The front desk clerk asked if we had five people because we might be a bit cramped, since there was one king bed and a small sofa and if we wanted to upgrade.  I didn’t think we would need more room and the last time I was asked if I wanted to pay to upgrade anything, I was upgraded for free because they didn’t have what I reserved.  Well, it turned out that they did not have any one bedroom units left and had to upgrade us to a two bedroom unit.  The delay at the airport turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  The two bedroom unit had two levels, there was a kitchen, living room, one bedroom with a queen bed and a half bath downstairs.  The second level was a loft with a huge closet, a bedroom with a king bed, a full bath and a desk in the actual loft area. 

After settling down, we went in search of food.  The first place we came to was a dumpling restaurant.  We ordered a steamer with 10 dumplings, but these dumplings were closer in size to buns and were filled with meat.  We also ordered a couple of veggie dishes and some congee made from millet.  The meal was nothing special, but it was enough to keep us filled.

We stopped at the 7-11 across the street from the hotel and got some rolls for the kids’ breakfast the next day, as we knew we would want to get an early start for the great wall.