Day One: From Cleveland to Beijing
It takes a lot of patience and persistence to get half way around the world these days. The direct Northwest Airlines Detroit to Beijing flight has been discontinued, which is surprising because that flight was always booked full, every seat packed. Now it takes almost 20 hours of flying from Detroit, instead of the 13 1/2 hours when there was a direct flight. The flight goes to Tokyo, then continues to Beijing.
I had accumulated enough frequent flier miles to upgrade to business class, but of course there is a catch. A more expensive upgradeable ticket must be purchased. So I payed about twice the coach fare, but for the long trip it was worth the extra price to have some extra comfort. And I think there are two levels of business class, the full fare and upgrades, because I heard the flight attendants referring to the "coachmaster upgrades". Of course, after a security search in Cleveland, and another one before boarding the plane in Detroit where all my "stuff" was unpacked, I guess treating people with basic dignity isn't on the airlines agenda anymore.
By the way, I purposely put nail clippers and tweezers in a small bag on my carry on luggage, because I wanted to see how well trained and thorough these checks are. I was checked five times, this bag was looked at, but they never confiscated the clippers or tweezers. So we have lost some of our civil liberties for "safety"? The first time I went to China, it was scary seeing all the soldiers with guns at the airport, but our airports are worse than China's now, and we have lost some of our rights, as well. But that's another story.
There were storms and flights were delayed, and I arrived in Beijing almost four hours later than expected. And my luggage did not arrive with me. I was pretty sure it had arrived on an earlier flight, and asked the Chinese person in "lost and found" to see if it was stored somewhere. At about 2 a.m. I had not heard from anyone, everyone was gone, and I had just about given up, ready to leave, when I saw some bags with flourescent tags that looked just like mine on a Thailand airlines baggage claim...and was so lucky to find they were mine! In China without luggage would have been a nightmare.
I stayed at the Prime Hotel (Hua Qiao Da Sha) on Wangfujing Street in Beijing, a sort-of five star hotel, very comfortable. Since I arrived so late, they upgraded my room to "Regency Suite".
China has only one time zone, so the sun comes up about 4 a.m. about the time I was relaxed enough to sleep. When I fly to China, as soon as I get on the plane I try to put my body on "China time", and sleep when it would be night in China, then stay awake when it would be daytime, so I don't spend so much time sleeping to get over jet lag. In the early morning I I went out and wandered around, watched people getting ready for their day, noticed how much had changed since my visit a year before. Last year, the streets were being repaired, improved, and it was filthy. Now everything looked great, very easy to get around. But all the interesting little shops were gone, and in their place were more modern buildings and restaurants. Beijing is preparing for the 2008 Olympics, and unfortunately, progress has eliminated the charming hutongs, shops and eating places. Many Chinese people have lost their homes in the hutongs during this modernization. Of course, they were given relocation allowances, but for most of the people it was not enough to afford one of the newer apartments. And transportation in Beijing is a tremendous problems, there is often gridlock, with only bicycles moving. When they must move farther away, the residents also incurred transportation expenses. When tourists go to China, they want to see "Chinese things", not all these modern buildings.
My friend Charles Li is a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kungfu (Gongfu) Master, and taiji teacher. He is my "bodyguard" and translator, and without him I would not be able to experience as much as the local Chinese culture that he helps me to know.
I went to the Bamboo Garden Hotel (Tingsonglou) to check it out to see if I wanted to stay there on my next visit. It is a Qing dynasty courtyard home that has been renovated to Chinese-style guest houses. It is lovely and since the Wangfujing area has lost its charming little shops, I think I will try this hotel the next time I visit Beijing.
My train for Dan Dong left in the afternoon, so I didn't have much time the first day. I went to the Hongshao Pearl Market and had some beautiful pearl and jade necklaces made up. I told the lady what I wanted, and picked out the pearls and jade pieces, and with amazing speed, the shop girls strung them while I waited. Wish I had more time...will check the main pearl floor when I return from Dan Dong.
