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We had planned to go to India to visit Mukul and his family in September of 2014. We were going to spend some time in Agra and then go to
Kerala in the south to enjoy the serene backwaters. When Mukul announced that his only child Sukumar and his wife Sonam were expecting their first
baby in September, we suggested postponing the trip. Although Mukul was far too polite to suggest this himself, he was thankful that we were
flexible. We certainly didn't want to intrude on this important family time for them. So we decided to postpone that trip for a year or two,
which left us in need of a new trip for autumn of 2014.
We contacted our trusted friend Toni at Myths and Mountains, who had arranged our previous trips to India and Bhutan and Vietnam. We explained the situation and asked where she had a guide who was as excellent as our dear friend Cuong in Vietnam. She said that she has a fantastic guide in China named Wang Jun, and that if he was available to guide us, she knew just the trip that we would love. We trust Toni very much because she knows how we like to travel and what we enjoy doing. She knows about Craig's multiple sclerosis, and understands that we want to do a private trip so that if he gets ill or has particularly low enegry on a certain day, we can adjust the itinerary as necessary. She talked to Wang Jun and when she found out that he was indeed available, we signed up for the trip "China: Guizhou and Guanxi - Festivals, People, and Their Land." This trip would take us to the less-visited southern proovinces of Guizhou and Guanxi, where we would visit ethnic minority villages in the mountains and learn about their ways of life. We had visited minority hill tribes in Vietnam last year, on the other side of the Chinese border, and had really enjoyed it. We would be able to take advantage of Hainan Airlines' new non-stop service from Boston to Beijing on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was quite appealing. Round-trip non-stop tickets from Boston to Beijing cost us less than $1000 each...it was less expensive to fly to China than Ecuador! We decided to add several days in Beijing at the beginning of the trip, so that we could experience some of the important attractions there, including the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and the Great Wall of China. Toni put the trip together for us, and we applied for our Chinese visas. The process was painstaking and took the better part of a Saturday to get the paperwork in order, but all went smoothly and we recieved our visas quickly. We always like to believe that everything works out for a reason, and this was no exception. Mukul's granddaughter Sara was born healthy during the time that we would have been in India. And our dear friends Jared and Dave wound up getting married in New Jersey over Labor Day weekend. If we had been in India as originally planned, we would have missed the wedding. Luckily, we were able to attend, and they even asked me to participate by doing a reading at the ceremony. We had an excellent time in China, and when we go back to India within the next year or so, we will be able to meet little Sara! |
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We left the house at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday. It was nice not to have to get up at the crack of dawn. We knew we would be susceptible to jet lag,
since China is 12 hours ahead of Boston time, so it was good to be able to get a full night's sleep prior to departure. Steve drove us to the airport.
We checked in at the Hainan Airlines counter and went through security at Terminal E.
We went to the Earl of Sandwich and got The Earl's Club (a delicious toasted turkey club). It was much nicer than greasy fast food burgers before a flight. The flight boarded at 4:40 p.m. It was our first time on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft had a 3-3-3 seating configuration. We were in the middle section in 2 aisle seats. If we wereextremely lucky, we would have an empty seat between us. If not, we would trade with the poor person assigned to the middle. We wouldn't need to climb over anyone when we needed to get up, nor would anyone need to climb over us. For such a long haul flight, this was essential. It turned out that a woman was seated in between us. Craig traded seats with her and she was very happy not to be stuck in the middle seat. The plane was very nice. Although we were in coach class, the seats were spacious and had ample leg room. The plane was divided up into several sections so it didn't feel as huge from front to back as it actually was. It didn't have traditional window shades; instead it had a knob which when turned polarized the windows a bit or, when turned further, blacked them out completely. Such fancy technology! The flight attendants came around with the drink cart and Craig had orange juice and I had 7-Up. Dinner was served: chicken with rice, egg salad, crackers and cheese, a warm roll, and a chocolate dessert that resembled tiramisu but without the lady fingers. Tea was served several times. This was a Chinese airline, after all! The seatback touchscreen TV's had a wide variety of movies, TV shows, games, etc. We watched "Beasts of the Southern Wild." We had seen it before, but for some unknown reason, it made me very emotional this time. We watched the flight map on our TV's. We flew over Barrow, Alaska, and then napped. At around midnight, we woke up. We crossed the International Date Line and they served us half of a ham and cheese sandwich. We went to the galley to get self-serve drinks (7-Up), almonds, and cheese. Then we tried to sleep some more. They fed us another meal with just 2 hours to go until landing in Beijing. We had salad with mozzarella, beef with noodles, pineapple, oranges, a blueberry muffin, and pineapple juice. The flight was just short of 14 hours. Although it was long, it was very nice to have it non-stop, without the hassle of a layover. This is especially true with Craig's multiple sclerosis...running around airports can be very exhausting for him. We landed at a little after 7 p.m. on Sunday evening. We went through immigration with no problems. It was very quick and there was even a little computerized kiosk to rate the service with smiley and frowny faces. We picked up our luggage and then ran it through the customs scanner. We exited the airport at 8:00 p.m., and immediately saw Alice, our Beijing guide, holding a Myths and Mountains sign. She is 28 years old and originally from Inner Mongolia. She came to Beijing around the Olympics time period in 2008 to give foot massages. She learned English through TV programs like "Desperate Housewives" and eventualy became a guide. She got married to an Irishman named Dion in July, and will be moving to Ireland after this tourist season and New Year to be with him. She is very outgoing and sweet, and we got along with her immediately. We went outside and met Mr. Chou, who was driving us in a very nice black Hyundai sedan with tinted windows, 2 sun roofs, leather seats, and a backup camera. Even though it was past usual rush hour time, there was traffic on the way to the hotel due to an accident. As we got closer to downtown, we saw many skyscrapers and there was a lot to look at. We saw a huge Sony complex, a big spherical shopping mall called Soho, etc. Beijing is a huge city of 21 million inhabitants. The Beijing of the 1980's which I saw on TV growing up, where roads were clogged with bicycles, has changed. People now have cars and motorbikes, and there are 5 million cars on the road. We arrived at the Red Wall Garden Hotel shortly after 9 o'clock. Alice helped us to check in and then said that she and the driver would pick us up at 11:30 a.m. We had been advised to exchange money at the hotel rather than the airport, due to better rates. But when we asked in the lobby, they said that they don't change money. We would need to go to the bank, which is a short walk away. We figured that maybe we could do that in the morning before meeting Alice, or maybe she could take us depending on the timing. They upgraded our room to a lovely 2 level suite. It was located right off the courtyard, room 1106, a.k.a. "Chopsticks". It was gorgeous. The first level had a sitting room with hardwood floors, an Oriental rug, and a very modern gorgeous bathroom. The furniture all looked antique and was very traditional Chinese in style. When you went up the staircase, you arrived at a bedroom loft area, also appointed with gorgeous furnishings. There was a flatscreen TV on each floor, and beautiful potted orchids. We had an old fashioned telephone and porcelain bedside lamps. The vaulted bedroom ceiling had beautiful wooden beams and a ceiling fan. The bedroom window overooked the courtyard, which was tastefully lit. We got settled, sent texts home to let our family know we had arrived safely, and were in bed by 10 p.m. The bed was exteremely comfortable and we were looking forward to a nice night's sleep. |
 Flight Map: Boston to Beijing  Room 1106 Red Wall Garden Hotel: Sitting Room  Room 1106 Red Wall Garden Hotel: Bathroom  Room 1106 Red Wall Garden Hotel: Bedroom Loft  Courtyard View |
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