Beijing Arrival

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My whole rant about Pearson has been lost in the ether. Everyone has heard it all before anyway. Just want to mention that I missed the Collevile Exhibit at the AGO. Also want to give my thanks to my bestest friend of two, who drove me to the airport in time to report back for lunch duty at school.

Hainan Air, even though in the last corner of Terminal 3, was efficient up to the point of the movies not functioning. Did not get the seat I requested so moved. The gluten free meal was delish... looked much better than the other trays that were distributed. Did not eat the dry rice cake. Two dinners were served; one at Canada afternoon time and one at Beijing afternoon time. There was fish with two ping pong ball sized potatoes and then chicken with two ping pong ball sized potatoes (no reference to national sport). Five small carrots and three broccoli trees were also included. Tea was served from nondescript pitchers. During the first round of food I thought perhaps they contained some healthy form of green veg juice. Second time around I asked for some of it and it turned out to be green tea. Befriended a woman who had been a farmer near Harbin in north eastern China. She was visiting her daughter in Toronto. A retired machinist who had worked in North Bay for 15 years helped translate in his halting English. She was intrigued with my method of knitting. Showed me her leotards that she had knit ... just the bottom leg!

Asolutely no problem finding luggage, airport express and subway. Had to ask three people before a kind couple helped me find the booth which sells the IC card. This is a loadable card that can be used on all transport and in small convenience stores like 7/11. Money can be added to it as needed. A ride on subway costs 2Yuan. I have started with 20Yuan on my card. Each entry into subway requires that baggage to go thru a scanning security check. Once you tap on the entry gate plate you are in the subway. Subway lines are differentiated by colour. There are eleven ... count them Toronto...eleven lines., lots of maps and directional arrows and always the end station specified so you go in the correct direction to your stop.

Once out of the subway I asked a masked man who was parking mopeds in which direction I would find Lishi Hutong. My cheat notes are written in Chinese characters, Pinyin and English. As luck would have it he pointed me in the wrong direction!



Broke my rule of asking at least three people for directions. That won't happen again.



One hour later, with the help of a young stranger and a kindly cab driver, Hotel 161 was reached. The two traffic policemen investigating a crashed up brown and gold cab were no help at all. All spiffy cabs are gold and brown. Then there are vehicles that look like aluminium boxes with windows and they also conduct passengers places. It seems a modern form of rickshaw. This deserves some investigation. After, have only been in China less than 24 hours.



Hotel 161 is lovely, clean, friendly, and well positioned when one knows where to find it. After a much needed shower, slept into your tomorrow and my yesterday. The International Date Line has always been a mystery to me since high school geography days. When I eat lunch in Beijing, Toronto is having a midnight snack. Cannot speak for the rest of Canada but Europe would be having breakfast. Thankfully the whole country of China operates in one time zone.



''Scottish-born Canadian Sir Sandford Fleming proposed a worldwide system of time zones in 1879. He advocated his system at several international conferences, thus is widely credited with their invention. Some countries, most notably China and India, use a single time zone, even though the extent of their territory far exceeds 15° of longitude. Before 1949, China used five time zones.'' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone,

Once awake and filled with a good capuccino I went walking thru tLishi Hutong.

''Hutongs are a type of narrow streets or alleys, commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, most prominently Beijing. Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history. The hutongs reflect the culture of grassroots Beijingers. The hutongs are residential neighborhoods which still form the heart of Old Beijing.'' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutong#Hutong_culture

I was careful not to get disoriented and if the street or alley had too many twists I retraced my steps.

In my wanderings I discovered the WU MART. Had not even noticed it in the darkness of night. It is not a Superstore it is a three floor HYPERSTORE! Wandered around for over an hour and took shots of produce and prices. Bought some orange juice, bread, tomatoes and sliced meat for my lunch. I was fingering a big pack of small plastic sausages when a man tapped me on the shoulder, shook his head, showed me his packaged slices and then pointed to the back of the store. Guess those weinies where not edible!

Went back to 161 to pick up backpack and then on my way to the super hotel. Again! Subway a breeze ... except I got off one stop too soon but when I looked at the map provided at the exit I discovered my error immediately. Re-entered subway, rode to next station and was able to find the posh hotel without difficulty ... its tall and I think I read mandarin????

First thing ... ate my purchases. All good. Remembered not to use tap water to wash tomatoes ...??? it looks good???



OMG OMG OMG Talk about five star. OH? When was the last time I stayed in such a perfect room? It was Brasilia in 2007!!



Am already watching news in English although the other channel have very interesting pictures and pics are worth a tghousand words wether english or mandarin!!

Will meet the Sinorama group at the welcoming meal and since I have already adventured outside today I do not need to go wander around the neighbourhood here. Anyway its 17:28 and getting dark.

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