It's Always Rainy in China

Except it's not.  Jeepers.  It's easy to downplay the effects of pollution until you are swimming in it.  Then you realize how scary it is.  This is my view from my hotel room at the Park Hyatt in Beijing.

Update: On the way to the airport, my driver told me that it was "summer smog".

In addition, some other fun pictures from my business trip that I hadn't had a chance to upload.

Amazing

The toilets are brilliant!  The seat is heated, the toilet automatically flushes, the lid is sensor-activated so it opens and shuts once it sense you approaching or once you have departed, there is a bidet (with multiple options of spray force and temperature), it glows in the dark so you can see it at night AND, as if all of that's not enough, it can play some music if you happen to need some disguise.

Another favorite

(The shampoo and conditioner and body wash were bergamot scented - who knew that bergamot smells AH-mazing?)

I didn't get much of a chance to see many sights in Beijing, but as you can see, the city builds on a verrrrry large scale.

Next post will be about my weekend trip to Tokyo!