PrologueWe had a wonderful time in China last October. Although it is on the other side of the world, it is incredibly convenient (and inexpensive, as flights go) to fly non-stop from Boston to Beijing. We were left wanting more: to see some of the more popular tourist destinations (terra cotta warriors, pandas, and the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River). We had made great friends with our guide Wang Jun, and before we even left China, we were planning the next trip with him. In October, we had planned to attend a Miao minority festival, but it had been postponed. Wang Jun suggested coming in April / May so that we could attend the even bigger Miao Sister's Meal Festival. So we worked with Toni and Jen from Myths and Mountains to plan the trip. Since we last saw Wang Jun, he and his wife Xiao Yi had welcomed a baby girl named Ziting. Wang Jun said he would have us to his house for dinner to meet the family. |
Saturday 4/18/15 - Boston to BeijingFor once, we didn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch our flight. So we had a low-key morning, sleeping in and getting everything ready to go. Steve came over at 1 o'clock and we transitioned everything (feeding of cats, etc.) and left for the airport at 2:15 p.m. Just as we were approaching the airport, an Iberia Air plane flew right over the road in front of us to touch down on the runway to our left. It was very impressive and we thought it was a good omen for our journey.Steve dropped us off and there was no line at the Hainan check in counter and we checked right it. Our bags seemed light at 8.2 and 8.8 kg, but really they were just filled with clothes. We each had a backpack of necessities, and I had my pocketbook with electronics, paperwork, etc. We exchanged money at the airport to prevent having to go to the bank in Beijing. Although the exchange rate was much worse, there are restrictions on amounts foreigners can exchange per day in Chinese banks, and the process can be very time-consuming. So we took the financial hit for the sake of convenience. We went to our gate and I got Earl's Club sandwiches for us from Earl of Sandwich, plus a bag of Miss Vickie's jalapeno chips and a chocolate chip cookie to share, as well as 2 Fanta Zero's. After eating, we noticed that it was 4:10 p.m., and or gate still didn't list our flight number. We were supposed to take off at 5:10. I went to look at the board and saw that our flight had been delayed until 9 o'clock. I looked at our boarding passes and the boarding time said 8 o'clock. No wonder there had been no line at check-in! Everyone else had checked the flight status and had come later. We should have done the same. Lesson learned. In the scramble to get everything together after a hectic work week, it hadn't crossed my mind to check. We could have had much more time at home, but it was too late now. I tried to connect to the airport WiFi to no avail. The fact that there were about 500 high school kids waiting to board red-eye flights to Ireland probably didn't help my connectivity. So I took out my journal and started writing. To be honest, work had been so busy leading up to the trip that we hadn't had time to mentally prepare. We felt very last-minute this morning, after a week of after-work activities including yoga and a friend's birthday party. If checking the flight schedule was our only oversight, then we would be doing well. We shall see. I bought a piece of iced lemon pound cake at Starbucks and we waited until our revised boarding time of 8 o'clock. But there was another delay because the plane didn't actually arrve until 7:10 due to mechanical problems. We saw it taxi to the gate and we felt joyful. At least wehad no connections to miss, although it meant a late-night arrival in Beijing. At 8:30 we boarded, and I realized that my seat number/letter was the same as my bra size. I found this far too funny, a testament to an already long day. We got settled in on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the 13+ hour journey. We had opted to sit in the middle section so that one of us would be on the aisle and we wouldn't needto climb over anyone (or have them climb over us) to get tothe restroom - something that occurs quite a few times on such a long flight. We flipped through the movies, and there were only 3 that we were interested in: "Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart", "Catch Me If You Can", and "Lost in Translation." We chose the latter since it was Asian themed. We got 15 minutes into it before dinner service began. We had pineapple juice, egg salad, Pepperidge Farm crackers with cheddar cheese, a roll with butter, braised beef in mustard sauce, carrots, mashed potatoes, and tiramisu. After eating, we resumed the movie. We got about 5 minutes further before they interrupted all programming with a 5 minute announcement for their UNICEF Change for Good Campaign. It went on and on and then they did a funny English translation of the whole thing. We got back to the movie only in time for another interruption about somethig else. We felt like we were stuck in the movie's plot. It was very appropriate. The movie ended at 1:30 a.m., and I got us some pineapple juice and crackers in the galley. There were no arrival forms on board, which meant that we would have to fill them out on the spot at the airport. We decided to try to get some sleep. Craig chanced to wake up and wondered where and when we were. He looked at the flight map and noticed that we were crossing the International Date Line at 4:20 a.m.! We went back to sleep and awoke at 8:15 for breakfast. It was beef lo mein with bok choi, a blueberry muffin, pineapple and oranges, salad with mozzeralla, and a roll. Craig ordered his pineapple juice in Spanish (forgetting he wasn't on a Latin American flight) and confused the flight attendant. We also got half a bologna sandwich as a snack. I ordered a JDB (a Chinese sweet tea soft drink). The flight attendantwas surprised that I knew of it, and asked if I had tried it before. It was my soft drink of choice on the previous trip. Sunday 4/19/15 - Arrival in BeijingAfter an additional beverage service, we landed at 10:50 p.m. in Beijing (10:50 a.m. at home). As we were walking to immigration, we noticed tha it was 11:11 p.m. We had to track down arrival cards since there had been none on board, but it was no big deal as everyone else on the flight needed to do the same thing. There was no real line, and we breezed through. We waited at baggage claim (it was very hot in there). We saw a currency exchange right there and the rate was much better than the rate we had gotten at the airport in Boston. Now we know for next time, it is easy to convert money while you wait for your bags. Our bags arrived and we went through customs with nothing to declare.We exited the airport and saw Mr. Chou, our driver from last time, waiting for us. He waved and gave us a big smile. Because it was so late at night, the guide had not accompanied him, but he called her and let her talk to us. She was very giggly and excited and I asked her name. She said she was Karen. "You took us to the airport last time!" I said happily as recognition dawned. We liked her a lot, so we were happy to have her as our Beijing city guide. Our previous guide Alice, who was also wonderful, had moved to Dublin to live with her Irish husband. Karen told us that she would pick us up at 9 a.m. for our city tour. That meant a short night's sleep, but we had both managed to sleep fairly well on the plane, so that was fine. It was a familiar ride from the airport to the lovely Red Wall Garden Hotel in Shijia Hutong, and we recognized much of the scenery on the ride. Mr. Chou honked the horn around 10 times to be let into the hotel driveway through the gate. I'm sure the neighborhood appreciated that. The hotel staff were very nice. When we checked in they gave us Karen's mobile number, since the driver doesn't speak English. All we had were 100 yuan notes, and depending where you spend them, sometimes change can be counterfeit. The hotel clerk changed 200 into small bills for us, which we appreciated very much. We went to our room, #2308. There was a nice hand-written note welcoming us to the hotel, and two apples. This is just one example of the personal touches I tried to connect to the wifi to send a note home that we had arrived safely, be it a few hours late. We saw 12:34 a.m. in the room. I had trouble connecting and eventually figured out that the password had changed and I needed to get my tablet to "forget" the old one...then it worked. Hotmail wouldn't work, but I was able to log into my Verizon web mail to send mail home. We went to bed at 1:15 a.m. (1:15 p.m. at home). It had been a long day! |
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