The flight to Beijing actually took 12 1/2 hours.  I left Chicago O'Hare Airport at 12:30pm Sunday, February 15, and then arrived in Beijing 3:30pm local time.  Beijing is 14 hours ahead of the Central time zone, so if it is 8am in Texas, it is 10pm in Beijing.

We didn't fly directly across the ocean, but rather went north through Canada and the arctic circle, then came south through Russia and Mongolia.  Here is a video clip of Siberia, which is eastern, cold, uninhabited Russia.  It was -84 degrees farenheit outside!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg02iGy08E4

The landing was pretty smooth, but it went from snow and mountains, to out of nowhere, cities and green land.  Notice the blue roofs in the video below. A local told me that many roofs were blue because the material is very cheap, and it is very pretty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-ihfjWoEg

We arrived in Bejing International Airport (PEK) in Terminal 3, which is the largest terminal in the world, specifically created for the 2008 Summer Olympics.  After breezing through customs and picking up my bags, a familiar face was there to greet me (see below):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_2nGCghdCQ