Aug. 14, 2011

Photo Gallery

Landing in China
Jason Clark
Henry Sims

BEIJING - After nearly 16 hours of travel, going through Canada, the Georgetown University men's basketball team arrived in China on Sunday afternoon - getting through customs around 3 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) and taking a short bus ride to the team's hotel in downtown Beijing.

The Hoyas will play a pair of exhibition games against teams from the Chinese Basketball Association - first against the Shanxi Brave Dragons on Wednesday, Aug. 17 and then against the Bayi Rockets on Thursday, Aug. 18 - before moving on to Shanghai for the remainder of the trip.

The team departed from McDonough Arena on Saturday morning at 7:35 and made its way to Reagan National Airport for a 10:15 a.m. flight to Toronto. After getting luggage checked and going through passports, the Hoyas flight took off and landed in Toronto at approximately 11:30 a.m.

From there, it was a walk to the international check-in and a 1:10 flight to Beijing. The flight took off about 15 minutes after it was scheduled for departure. After a 13-hour trip from Toronto to Beijing, the traveling party had to go through security check-in and then baggage claim, before getting on buses to the team's hotel. Most players tried to spend the trip sleeping or watching movies.

While the team was going through check-in at Beijing's airport - the largest in the world and opened for the 2008 Olympics - the team met up with a group of alumni and University staff who had arrived in from a flight from Washington.

Plans for Monday, weather permitting, include a sight-seeing expedition with stops through Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.