Rushed ramblings

I write this as I'm trying to avoid packing. I've been in Hong Kong for 3 (?) days and leave early tomorrow morning. I still can't believe the trip is almost over. It's been such a great vacation. I've seen so much. The Chinese people are very friendly. Even the eastern (squat) toilets weren't so bad.

The air quality wasn't as bad as I had expected. Beijing was similar to Denver in that it had a brown cloud sitting over it. There was more of a haze than anything. At night, the air quality was worse since folks would burn all sorts of things to heat their homes or to cook. The air felt (and smelled) as if there was a forest fire off in the distance. Xi'an was the worst as far as air quality goes. My throat/lungs burned all the time. It was also very dry so that mixed w/ the poor air quality was not enjoyable. Shanghai had a nice breeze so the air quality wasn't bad except for the constant haze. Here in Hong Kong, there's a haze, but the air quality is fine.

We've had amazing weather during our trip. The worst weather was in Shanghai and that's where it was cooler and overcast. Otherwise, we've had beautiful, dry, and sunny weather.

I'm off for now. Will try to check in before I leave