In a little more than twelve hours I will be in the plane and in the air that will take me to Chicago. After a nearly two hour flight I will sit in the Chicago airport for three hours. About 2.00 pm Toronto time I will be back in the air for a thirteen hour flight to Beijing. It is still almost unbelievable to me.
What will be almost as unbelievable is waking up for the first time in Beijing and that will be on Thursday morning. My plan is to go from the airport to the hotel and get checked in and a little settled. Then I need to get the stuff that I brought to my host. Then I hope we will wander a little and have some supper. I hope after that I will be able to sleep. We land about 3.45 am Toronto time on Wednesday. Even though my head will think it is morning, I think my body will be glad of a bed by the time I have had supper in Beijing on Wednesday evening. I am taking an alarm clock to get me out of bed on Thursday morning. I think the only way I am going to get over whatever jet lag I experience is by living on Beijing time.
I have had some suggestions about where to shop for some things. My guide book has lots of suggestions for places to visit. I never did write down any sort of schedule or plan. If I keep the pages from the guidebook available on the plane I should be able to do some planning then. At the moment I think I feel too wound up to know exactly what to say or do. Someone suggested maybe I should not sleep tonight so that I do sleep on the plane. However not sleeping is really not an option if I am going to be reasonably alert while going through all the steps necessary at two airports. If I manage to sleep through about half the flight from Chicago to Beijing then I will be awake enough to deal with Customs and Immigration in China and tired enough to sleep several hours after I land.
I will not be able to update this blog on Tuesday night, I won't do that from the airplane even if Internet is available. I don't know if I will be in any shape to write anything Wednesday night. If you follow this blog "officially" you will get notification when I send each update.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Getting Ready
This afternoon I started packing. I have some things to deliver to my host when I arrive. Those went in first, to make sure they were not forgotten. My goal is to have one bag as checked luggage and one carry-on bag. The airline allows 2 X 22kg bags to be checked and one 10kg bag as carry-on. The carry-on is supposed to meet specific size rules. In the two flights I have made so far this year I have not seen or heard anyone's carry-on bag being rejected. And I have seen some carry-on luggage on wheels that was the same size as the luggage I checked when I went to Orlando.
I will be carrying a smallish backpack. It has floppy waist band straps which I should be able to tie back or tuck in if they do not go through the x-ray machine. I think it is too big for what I need but I might need the space when I come back. The duty free allowance for returning Canadians is reasonably generous unless one intends to buy jewellery or art or other high cost items. So I want to bring back a number of gifts for others and for myself.
I had intended to start my trip planning today but that might have to wait until tomorrow. My hotel is on Da Zha Lan Xi Jie. It is a street in the old Chinese part of Beijing, I am told it is about ten minutes walk south of Tian An Men Square. I know next Friday I will be making a trip to somewhere on the Great Wall. Thursday I expect to get up for breakfast on the street and to spend the day partly getting familiar with the neighbourhood and partly recovering from the flight. I have been told it is not possible to "do" the Forbidden City in just one day so maybe I will give two or three days to that place. Wnagfujing Street is a little further away but it is apparently one of the best places in the city to get anything eatable.
There are some famous parks near the Forbidden City which I would like to visit: JIngshan, BeiHai, HouHai. Near my host's house are both a Lama Temple and a Confucius Temple as well as Drum and Bell Tower. There are some very famous universities I might want to visit. And there is lots of shopping, eating and people watching all over the city. I think I should get used to using the subway early in my visit. There may be days when I will be too tired to walk back to the hotel, or days when I will want to get out of the rain.
I have a friend in Nanjing and we may be able to meet in her city. That requires either a 90 minute flight or an eight-hour train ride. She says there is a new high speed train which takes much less time, perhaps four hours. Unfortunately neither one of us were able to find a schedule for it. We agreed I would do some research and make a decision about the trip once I get to Beijing. Perhaps the people in the hotel will be able to help me. I would love to travel on the high speed train, that sounds like a great new experience.
Many people have suggested I visit the Bird's Nest, the trademark site for the 2008 Olympics. It is a little further out than the historical places I have mentioned so far. It will be on my list but not one of my top priorities. I think between the historical sites and what I find in and around the hotel neighbourhood I will have more than enough to see and listen to and participate in and take pictures of.
I will be carrying a smallish backpack. It has floppy waist band straps which I should be able to tie back or tuck in if they do not go through the x-ray machine. I think it is too big for what I need but I might need the space when I come back. The duty free allowance for returning Canadians is reasonably generous unless one intends to buy jewellery or art or other high cost items. So I want to bring back a number of gifts for others and for myself.
I had intended to start my trip planning today but that might have to wait until tomorrow. My hotel is on Da Zha Lan Xi Jie. It is a street in the old Chinese part of Beijing, I am told it is about ten minutes walk south of Tian An Men Square. I know next Friday I will be making a trip to somewhere on the Great Wall. Thursday I expect to get up for breakfast on the street and to spend the day partly getting familiar with the neighbourhood and partly recovering from the flight. I have been told it is not possible to "do" the Forbidden City in just one day so maybe I will give two or three days to that place. Wnagfujing Street is a little further away but it is apparently one of the best places in the city to get anything eatable.
There are some famous parks near the Forbidden City which I would like to visit: JIngshan, BeiHai, HouHai. Near my host's house are both a Lama Temple and a Confucius Temple as well as Drum and Bell Tower. There are some very famous universities I might want to visit. And there is lots of shopping, eating and people watching all over the city. I think I should get used to using the subway early in my visit. There may be days when I will be too tired to walk back to the hotel, or days when I will want to get out of the rain.
I have a friend in Nanjing and we may be able to meet in her city. That requires either a 90 minute flight or an eight-hour train ride. She says there is a new high speed train which takes much less time, perhaps four hours. Unfortunately neither one of us were able to find a schedule for it. We agreed I would do some research and make a decision about the trip once I get to Beijing. Perhaps the people in the hotel will be able to help me. I would love to travel on the high speed train, that sounds like a great new experience.
Many people have suggested I visit the Bird's Nest, the trademark site for the 2008 Olympics. It is a little further out than the historical places I have mentioned so far. It will be on my list but not one of my top priorities. I think between the historical sites and what I find in and around the hotel neighbourhood I will have more than enough to see and listen to and participate in and take pictures of.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Thinking about China
As I am sure you can imagine I have been doing a lot of thinking about China, particularly about Beijing, in the last few weeks. I am writing only one week before I leave. It seems at times like I am going on an epic journey when I am really going for only sixteen days, just a vacation. I think the "epic" part comes from waiting to do this trip for many years.
Beijing is a large city, and I have lived most of my life in or near Canada's largest city. Yet Toronto is quite small compared to Beijing. People have said that the number of people I will see every minute of every day could be overwhelming. The last time I checked the official population of Beijing was over 25 million. The population of Canada is less than 35 million. I cannot imagine putting almost everyone in Canada into one city. That is what people are trying to tell me: I cannot imagine what Beijing is like. So that's why I am going: so I can stop imagining and start experiencing.
Using Google Maps I discovered Beijing is not as far north as I thought. It is roughly on the same latitude as Philadelphia. Now I understand why Beijing about 5 - 10 degrees warmer than Toronto all year. And that explains the absence of snow in the winter. If Toronto were 5 - 10 degrees warmer, what falls as snow in the winter now would fall as rain. What little snow would fall would not stay on the ground too long. Go north to Huntsville or North Bay where it is 5 - 10 degrees cooler than Toronto and the snow does not melt. It comes in November or December and stays until March or April.
I am still waiting for suggestions or inspiration about things to buy. I need to replace one broken Yixing teapot. But what else can I bring back that will say "Beijing" to me in the months ahead when I think about returning? Suggestions welcome.
Beijing is a large city, and I have lived most of my life in or near Canada's largest city. Yet Toronto is quite small compared to Beijing. People have said that the number of people I will see every minute of every day could be overwhelming. The last time I checked the official population of Beijing was over 25 million. The population of Canada is less than 35 million. I cannot imagine putting almost everyone in Canada into one city. That is what people are trying to tell me: I cannot imagine what Beijing is like. So that's why I am going: so I can stop imagining and start experiencing.
Using Google Maps I discovered Beijing is not as far north as I thought. It is roughly on the same latitude as Philadelphia. Now I understand why Beijing about 5 - 10 degrees warmer than Toronto all year. And that explains the absence of snow in the winter. If Toronto were 5 - 10 degrees warmer, what falls as snow in the winter now would fall as rain. What little snow would fall would not stay on the ground too long. Go north to Huntsville or North Bay where it is 5 - 10 degrees cooler than Toronto and the snow does not melt. It comes in November or December and stays until March or April.
I am still waiting for suggestions or inspiration about things to buy. I need to replace one broken Yixing teapot. But what else can I bring back that will say "Beijing" to me in the months ahead when I think about returning? Suggestions welcome.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Down and Up
Eighteen days before I get on the plane, nineteen before I land.
Today I got a quick look at what a visa to China looks like in a Canadian passport, but it was not my passport. I woke up early this morning and left the house about 8.30. I got to the Consulate about 9.15 - 9.20. This time there was a private company security guard at the gate who asked me for identification. Once inside I joined the line to pick up my passport with its new visa. For about twenty minutes everyone in the pick up line stood in the same spot while the other two lines kept moving forward. Eventually "our" line started moving but it was somewhat annoying to see people who came in after I did submit their applications and leave while I had not moved at all.
About 10.15 or so I finally got to the wicket to pick up my passport and visa only to be told the Consulate does not accept credit cards for payment, only debit cards or money orders. When I told the clerk that is not what the web site says he told me "you did not read the web site properly". I felt like arguing with him, I was angy because I thought I was right. However there was not point. I could yell at him for two hours and the machine on the counter would still not accept my credit card and my passport would still be behind the glass barrier. I do not have a debit card. I never intend to get a debit card until I can no longer use cash to purchase necessities. I am not a Luddite, I teach computer technology. However I know I would give personal purchase information into the control of a financial institution every time I use a debit card. I do not trust financial institutions to keep the information secure. Anyway -- no debit card or no money order means no visa. On the trip home I calmed down and developed a plan.
When I got home I called the travel agency and asked for suggestions. They said they would pick up my passport for me. It would cost $10 in addition to the $50 fee for the visa. Since the travel agency is 15 - 20 minutes away by car and the consulate is 45 minutes away by transit, that seems like a good use of $10 to me.
Today I got a quick look at what a visa to China looks like in a Canadian passport, but it was not my passport. I woke up early this morning and left the house about 8.30. I got to the Consulate about 9.15 - 9.20. This time there was a private company security guard at the gate who asked me for identification. Once inside I joined the line to pick up my passport with its new visa. For about twenty minutes everyone in the pick up line stood in the same spot while the other two lines kept moving forward. Eventually "our" line started moving but it was somewhat annoying to see people who came in after I did submit their applications and leave while I had not moved at all.
About 10.15 or so I finally got to the wicket to pick up my passport and visa only to be told the Consulate does not accept credit cards for payment, only debit cards or money orders. When I told the clerk that is not what the web site says he told me "you did not read the web site properly". I felt like arguing with him, I was angy because I thought I was right. However there was not point. I could yell at him for two hours and the machine on the counter would still not accept my credit card and my passport would still be behind the glass barrier. I do not have a debit card. I never intend to get a debit card until I can no longer use cash to purchase necessities. I am not a Luddite, I teach computer technology. However I know I would give personal purchase information into the control of a financial institution every time I use a debit card. I do not trust financial institutions to keep the information secure. Anyway -- no debit card or no money order means no visa. On the trip home I calmed down and developed a plan.
When I got home I called the travel agency and asked for suggestions. They said they would pick up my passport for me. It would cost $10 in addition to the $50 fee for the visa. Since the travel agency is 15 - 20 minutes away by car and the consulate is 45 minutes away by transit, that seems like a good use of $10 to me.
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