Landed

Well, arrived ok, on time. Some impressions regarding arriving: The city is surrounded by a patchwork of fields, small clumps of housing or industrial centers and irregular roads everywhere - right up to the edge of the city. If I was flying into Los Angeles, I would see nothing but houses from palm springs until LAX. The airport has this amazing beautiful new terminal that just opened - 2 miles long. The train system that runs down the center of it is an engineering marvel on its own. I don't know if they are just messing with first time visitors like me, but we came in at gate 426 and baggage claim area 41. The city doesn't look too foreign, just big. didn't see may bicycles until the heart of the city where every construction site (and there are a lot of them) is surrounded by parked bicycles. I think tomorrow is the great wall. I met Aileen, my guide for tea this evening, and she is trying to get me on a tour because she is busy tomorrow.
  View from the Hotel

Shady Street

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