Our first day in China began by landing at the Beijing international airport early in the morning. Our flight was among the first of the day at the airport, which hastened our airport procedures remarkably. The getting-into-the-country routines were completed without significant waiting in queues, and we were able to head from the airport to our hotel towards the Beijing city center.

The trip to the hotel was not quite as smooth, however, as we ended up right in the middle of the Beijing morning rush hour traffic. Our group spent quite a bit of time huddled together inside a minibus with our luggage in our laps. The jet-lag resulting from the five-hour time difference and the all-nighter flight had a striking effect on the group: spirits were high and the quality of jokes was truly something to behold. To get a taste of this atmosphere and the rest of our trip, head over to Instagram (@lvk_ry) and during the first week the Aalto university Snapchat (@aaltouniversity).

In the end, we made it to the hotel sooner than expected. We found the hotel to be very comfy apart from some loud-mouthed caged birds in the lobby. However, we didn’t get all of our rooms immediately so we left to search for an early lunch. Se found nice looking place and they opened their doors half an hour earlier just for us. Supposibly, we looked pretty hungry. As an only one who talks Chinesese Silja ordered same portions to both tables and food was great! After the lunch we got rest of ours rooms and most of us sleep due to bit of jetlag, but some went to explore city.

In the evening we went to hunt dinner near the hotel. While walking by the street next to our hotel, we noticed that there were just stores which sold music instruments such as quitars and fluites along it. After short walk around we found sitting in cosy restaurant. We ate tasty and sufficient meals and it cost just around 5€ for each. With our stomachs full, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for adventures of the next day.