The Character for Beijing...
The Flight...and China's name for itself:
First character: Middle Second character: Kingdom
Wow. Business class is definitely the way to go!
Lotsa food, entertainment, and most importantly, ROOM.
The seat reclined every which way and did practically everything
except give you a massage. (Maybe it did even that, I just hadn't
found the button yet) Good thing, too, because it's a thirteen-hour
nonstop flight.
We flew directly over the North Pole (according to the flight tracker
map)
at night - tons of stars overhead, and a vast white plain below
- not sure
if it was clouds or snow.
At daybreak, we flew in over Siberia, Mongolia, and Northwest China
-
an arid desert, punctuated by an occasional speck of a village.
Arrival
About an hour and a half before we were due to land, the crew handed
out
the China paperwork. Three forms -- The China Health Quarrantine
form,
which contained a three rows of checkboxes after the question, "Do
you have?".
The first row contained Cough, Sore Throat, and Snivels (sic), and
the
last row had the more serious stuff -- AIDS and Dementia.
Hmm.
If I HAD dementia, I'm not sure I'd be qualified to check the checkbox
...
Then there was an Immigration form and a Baggage/Customs form.
I started remembering my trip to Bangalore, and thought, "What have
I
gotten myself into now?"
I need not have worried. Beijing airport is big, bright, roomy,
spotlessly
clean, and VERY efficient. Much better than JFK or EWR, though
not
quite as cheery as YHZ (but then again, nothing really is.)
The forms were a formality; I breezed through all three queues, and
the
longest wait was about ten minutes to get my bag. About half
an
hour after we touched down, (and ten minutes after our stated arrival
time -
we landed early) I was in the car going to the hotel.
The Hotel
The Hilton offered "Airport Service" on their website, so I called them
the day
before and arranged transportation. Turns out I needn't have
worried; taxis here
are plentiful and reliable. One word of advice, though:
when going anywhere,
try to have your destination written out in Chinese characters beforehand
- while
the drivers here are helpful and polite, very few of them speak English!
Back to my story: Upon exiting from Customs, I spotted a man holding
a card with
my name. I identified myself to him, assuming he was the driver, but
actually he was
part of a precisely synchronized team: He spoke a few words into
his cellphone and,
taking my bag, walked me to the curb. As we approached the exit,
a black sedan
pulled up, the driver loaded my bag, and we sped off to downtown.
When we pulled
up to the hotel, a porter took my bags and a young lady with a clipboard
escorted me
directly to my room (bypassing the front desk), where an attendant
was waiting with
a tray of welcome drinks. The greeter then verified my credit card
and passport and
announced that they did not have a room upgrade available (as an "elite"
Hilton traveller
- which basically means I spend more nights in Hilton beds than at
home - I'm entitled
to an upgrade when available). Could, instead, I please accept
a Hilton Panda?
Then they were gone. When the porter brought the bag a few minutes
later, my head
was still spinning, thinking I had participated in a scene from a James
bond movie.
And the room ... wow. I can't imagine what could possibly constitute
an upgrade from
what I'm now in. The furnishings are stylish and modern, with
clean lines, light woods
and fabrics, but also unmistakably Oriental. Everything is so
tastefully arranged, I'm almost
afraid to disturb anything.
Postscript: I saw a coworker's "upgraded" room. Same exact
layout, except with a few extra
features - a fax machine, a cappucino maker, and some very fancy LED
reading lamps for the bed.
A few minutes after I took the picture above, another service person arrived with a liveMy hotel room: modern, comfortable and very well appointed
People here are gadget freaks. I think it's an Asian trait, and
this hotel is no exception. There
are discreet rocker switches in the walls to control various combinations
of lighting and power.
By the room door, there is a red and green rocker switch which illuminates
a red and green
light right outside my door. The red is the equivalent of a "Do
Not Disturb" tag, and the green
requests maid service. On Sunday, I made an early night of it
(about 8:00 pm) so I turned
on the Do Not Disturb light and went to bed.
After work on Monday, I came back and found a note under the door that
said, "We did not
want to disturb you. Please call Housekeeping to have your room made
up."
Oh well, I thought, switching off the red light. I won't bother
them. I had plenty of towels, and
the bed didn't really need making up. I stepped outside to get
a bite to eat, and when I returned
less than 45 minutes later, I found that the room had been COMPLETELY
made up, and the
bed turned down.
The service is so good and discreet here, it's almost creepy.
The City
If Hong Kong is equivalent to New York - gritty, diverse, commercial
and full of life, then
Beijing is like Washington, DC - ornate, broad avenues, showing the
best the country has
has to offer, and a bit smug and self-righteous.
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Beijing street scene on a Sunday afternoon
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Early morning smog, as seen from my hotel room
Walking along a street in the tourist area, I spotted a sign in
English : "Genuine Chinese Food".
Um, yeah ... wouldn't it all be?
Then there was this, down a side street:
See many toucans in Ireland?
Teaching class in China has its own unique clhallenges. Everything,
including Microsoft Windows, is in Chinese.
Thank god for icons.
Teaching class in China: "Open the Policy editor, and find the Local Users Key ..."
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textMy "Hi Mom" picture: Greetins from the Forbidden City!
Oh Boy! Field Trip!
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Lions are not native to China, so they become fanciful, mythical creatures
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All that remains of a wall that once surrounded Beijing
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Tiennamen Square, looking out towards the Forbidden City
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The Outer Gate at dusk
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textThe national bird of Beijing - the crane
textPimp My Ride, Beijing: in a sea of conformist sedans, an expression of unbridled creativity