Let's start with a little explanation here. I did not update my blog during my trip. Turns out that sticky Chinese internet control really does work, and I was unable to access my blog while I was there. So...now it's 3 weeks later, and I'm finally getting around to it. I don't know how I will ever forgive myself. :)
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It occurred to me as I walked back to my
hotel after dinner tonight that I got up at 4:15am Sunday morning EST. It’s now…around 9:30am on Monday morning,
EST, and my only “sleep” has been a bit of napping on the plane. No wonder I felt a little drunk as I walked
to dinner!
That was a long trip!! 5 hours to
Vancouver, a brief stopover, and then 11 hours from Vancouver to Beijing. Can you guess what I was craving most when I
finally got to my hotel??
Happily, the trip was pretty much
uneventful. I breezed through customs
and security at Pearson. (I guess before 6am on a Sunday morning isn’t exactly
prime time…though it looked as though the crowd closed in behind me. Seems we know who is the big-time trend
setter at YYZ!!) The last couple of
times I have flown, I have been singled out for random additional inspection;
either testing for bomb residue, or searching my luggage (including both on one
trip…). In the same vein, security asked
me today as I boarded for China whether I had announced to customs my intention
to move more than $10 000.00 across the border.
I guess my look of confusion wasn’t clear, as when I replied no, the
agent asked me whether I should. I
laughed and told him that I don’t earn enough to have those kinds of problems.
I settled into my seat for the flight to
Beijing, and then the guy in the row behind me sat down. He STANK of B.O. An 11 hour flight and I felt like I was in a
hockey bag…Not an auspicious start. Conveniently, a flight attendant came by
and asked if my neighbor and I would mind switching with another couple. Something about space in the overhead
compartments….I didn’t question it as it moved me away from that odour. The real story came from the guy sitting
behind me in my new seat – I’ll call him guy #1 for sake of ease. Apparently, guy #1 put his luggage in the
overhead compartment. The guy who
switched with me (guy #2) then came along and started bashing the luggage that
was already in there to try to fit his in.
G#1 said something along the lines of “Please sir, if you would be so
kind, might you consider a lighter touch with the coveted belongings of others?”
(recall that G#1 is my source for this story).
G#2 responded “I’m going to kick your ass as soon as we get off this plane. Your wife is a freak, too.” (That response
has been corroborated by other passengers.)
In any case, the crew wanted to separate those two guys. Worked for me. G#1 had no noticeable body odour. Conveniently enough, G#1 and his very
non-freakish wife are on the same tour as me.
When I was in Chicago last week-end, I
spent one night in what was by far the nicest five-star hotel I’ve experienced
– the Chicago Langham hotel. (Thank-you, Hotwire, that I don’t pay 5-star
prices but still get to enjoy those luxuries.)
I spent the rest of my nights in Chicago in a Hilton Doubletree. (Also a
very nice hotel for anyone looking for lodging in Chicago.) Wouldn’t you know, the first hotel I saw
today in Beijing? The Langham! We aren’t staying there…this tour isn’t quite
that posh…but we are staying in the Hilton Doubletree! J I even got my cookie upon check-in.
I got a good run in on the treadmill here
(I’m rather pleased with myself that I managed that after all that travel), and
then wandered the neighbourhood around my hotel, as I am inclined to do in
strange cities. (If I were not so sleep-deprived, I’d still be out
wandering!) I don’t know how close we
are to the core of downtown, but so far it’s not exactly what I expected. Lots of beautiful parks and green spaces on
the outskirts of the city, and a surprising lack of congestion in and around
this neighbourhood. Don’t get me wrong –
lots of people (and I was out starting around 8pm on a Monday night…not exactly
rush-hour commute), but not the dense humanity I was expecting. Strangely, if I
ignore the characters on a lot of the signs, there’s a very familiar feeling
here. I suppose that’s partly because my
hotel looks out on a row consisting of McDonald’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Sigh…. At least my room is on the back side
of the hotel – a nice view:
Dinner tonight was just the way I wanted
it: I was the only person in the whole restaurant who spoke English! On the
down side, this meant I ordered way too much food, and I didn’t really like
half of it. The spicy ginger garlic tofu
was very tasty, until the chilies had me begging for mercy. Good thing to note, my waitress tried to
refuse my tip, looking very stern at me when I refused to take it back. Given that my entire meal including tip cost less
than $20, I wasn’t backing down. Her
manager or someone spoke up as we were debating who would keep the 20 yuan (100
yuan = <$20, including the service fee where I changed my money), and then
the waitress laughed and thanked me. She had already laughed at me several time
as I ordered…she probably thinks I’m a bit odd, to say the least….
I also came upon……it’s hard to
describe. Picture 150 older folks doing
really low-energy line dancing in a public square. That sort of sums it up… If there was someone
leading the group, I couldn’t spot her/him, yet they were all doing the same
routine and moving in concert. As I am
told, Chinese people tend not to smile in public, so that explains why most of
the dancers looked to be pretty unimpressed with what they were doing. As my guide explained later, this is aerobics
for seniors, though he assured me “it’s also to have fun!” Weird.
Tomorrow I am going to the Forbidden City and
Tiananmen Square! The camera is charging
as I type.
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