Part A – The Flight from Vancouver to Beijing.....and the 3 Major things that you (can only) learn during an 11 hour plane ride
1) Airplane designers did not use 6’1’’, 220 pounds guys to design the seats on an airplane. As a result, real estate on an airplane is a HIGHLY valued commodity. Fortunately for me, Diane Douglas (Fare Finders .....thank you, thank you, thank you!) booked my tickets and got me a seat beside exit on all the legs of this trip. This gave me about 16 to 20 inches of extra leg room which was AWESOME!
2) If you are unable to sleep on the airplane because you feel the pilot will crash if you are not available to help him...... you are in fact able to watch 5 movies in a row.
Ratings: The Tourist (2.5 stars), The Mechanic (3 stars), No Strings Attached (4 stars), I am Number 4 (4 stars), The Dilemma (1 star)
3) Time on an airplane helps you to understand what a dog’s life is actually like. You know how they say that each year of a dog’s life is really like 7 people years? Well, an airplane ride is exactly the same. 1 hour in the air is worth approximately 7 hours on the ground.....therefore, an 11 hour flight is really equal to approx. 77 real people hours.
Part B – landing in Beijing....you cannot believe how damn big the Beijing airport is!!! (I could not see the end of the terminal building from either the inside or the outside)
Part C – The 4 hour drive to Qui Huang Dao and E&Y College
My major observation around this part of the trip is how most of the cars and roads look brand new. This makes sense given that the freeway and road system in China has really only developed over the past 5 years or so. The picture below is of “Peter”, the driver who took me to the college
Driving is in China is really interesting. The three things that become pretty clear right away are as follows:
1) Lane markers are really just suggestions
2) Everybody flashes their high beam lights at drivers when they are going by them (right side, left side, in between 2 cars on the shoulder....no matter!). I am assuming that the high beams lights that all the drivers’ are flicking on and off activate some sort of invisible force field that surrounds the car and protects it from crashing?
3) Car horns must wear out pretty quickly? They are used to say everything from “why, hello there” to “get the hell out of the way you poor unsuspecting pedestrian”!
Needless to say, I didn’t sleep on this trip either!
Part D – The College and My First Night in China
...anyway got to the college, and again was really pleasantly surprised about my room. It is more like an apartment than a room, and was much cleaner and nicer than I was told to expect. (It might not pass a “girl clean test”...but for a guy – it is perfectly fine).
As you can see from the pictures, the bathroom is a bit unique....the big tank above the toilet is the electric water heater and the shower is right beside the toilet. This is very efficient, you can go to the bathroom, then simply stand up and shower!
Part E – Out for supper and in Bed by 8:30....one tired little traveller!
A nice surprise for Peter and I was that when we drove up to the college, Joan, Gis and Miranda met us at the front door. This was great of them to do, and after a quick shower, shave and change, we headed out for dinner. Dinner was also fantastic! 4 big beers plus 4 food dishes that were just delicious (and more than we could eat) all for 55RMB (which is approx. $7.85 Canadian).
I will tell you more about the food and restaurants on another day when I have no babbled quite so much already.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that my first impression of China is that it provides you with an assault on all five of your senses. It is much greener, much prettier, hotter and much more interesting than I was expecting!!!!!!
In bed by 8:30pm (China time) and out light a sack of potatoes!!!!!
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