We're in China!

After 24 hours of travelling, we arrived in Tianjin, China. Jessica is presenting her math research here on Wednesday at the FPSAC Conference. We're staying at a nice 3-star hotel near Nankai University. Here's two shots of our hotel:

The hotel is right on a lake, which you can see below. The picture is a little fuzzy, which I thought was due to fog in the morning, but I now think it's smog which will always be there. In the distance is the Tianjin skyline. I'm curious whether it's possible to take any wide angle photograph in China without capturing a construction crane... You may not be able to see them well in this shot, but trust me - they're there.
Keep your fingers crossed for more photos. Our HUGE stash of batteries was in the piece of luggage which United Airlines can't find. I've been thrust into the Chinese shopping market experience a bit sooner than I'd planned since our toiletry bag was also in that suitcase :) I think the biggest oddity was: 35 RMB for a nice mid-sized backpack(to carry my other purchases) 45RMB for a bottle of contact solution. Deal of the day: 6.80RMB (under $1) for shoe polish. I knew there was a reason I kept putting that job off while I was back home.
Okay, one more note about the hotel. It took us about 10 minutes to figure out how to turn on any lights in our room beyond the entryway. It turns out, there's an electronic controller next to the bed which manages every light in the room! you can lay there and press the "Master Off" then turn on the night light if you're afraid of the dark - all from the comfort of your bed. In addition to lights, it controls the TV, Air Conditioning, and has a clock/radio. The only thing we can't figure out how to do is set an alarm clock! I may have to devote an entire additional post to the room control system, but that'll be later. Here's a picture of the controller: