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We are now into our full 2nd day here in China, but some people have asked about the flight etc, so I will go back to that first.
We left home at 5:15AM on May 8th, after having almost 4 hrs of sleep. Katelin dropped us off at the Greensboro Airport and our flight was on time with no problems. Upon arriving at Chicago O'Hare Airport, we had time to spare and were next to the food court, so got something to eat. We boarded the plane on time, but then sat and sat and sat - leaving more than an hour late supposedly because of paperwork they were trying to complete for some maintenance work done.
I think all of our adrenaline had kicked in, because none of us were able to sleep. We read, watched movies, listened to our MP3's, ate, played games, and tried to sleep for 14 hours! Jim and I managed to doze a little and Leah finally collapsed about an hour and a half before our arrival. I actually was surprised at how quickly the flight seemed to go - flying to Anchorage will be a short trip in June! It was a little strange
Arrival in Shanghai
This is the General Manager of Ace and his Family not having nighttime for over 24 hours. Leah and I had ordered gluten free meals, and I must say they were pretty good and looked more appealing to me than the regular meals! Our flight path took us up over Alaska and then over Japan to Shanghai.
Upon arrival, after everyone lined up to leave the plane, thye announced that everyone had to return to their seats because China wouldn't let anyone leave the plane until everyone had their temperature taken. They are very serious about the swine flu! (I heard on the news yesterday that they have 10 people quarantined for 10 days in Beijing and Shanghai) There was a team of 6 people that came on board in Hazmat suits - Thank God everyone was well, so they let us all leave!
The first long line we reached, we were escorted to the front w/o having to wait because we had a child with us!Relief! Then we just had to wait to get through immigration and collect our bags. Horton, the General Manager, and his wife and sons and a driver were waiting for us.
It was about an hour drive to Nanqiao Town. Shanghai looked much like any big city in the USA, just that everything was written in Chinese. The Maglev train tracks followed along the freeway for awhile and we got to watch a couple pass by - blink and you miss it - they can go over 250mph! That's almost half as fast as the plane was going! As we got further out from Shanghai, the bicycle/scooter lanes began, this is the main mode of transportation for most Chinese. I saw as many as four people on one scooter!
I was surprised at how nice the roads were landscaped, much more grass and trees than I expected. Nanqiao is also much larger than I expected.
When we arrived at Ace, we had a welcoming party waiting, the whole management team was there! They all accompanied us up to our apartment to show us around, then left us alone to freshen up for dinner, which I think I'll cover in the next entry.
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Margaret Kane
non-member comment
Wow!
Linda, thanks for the update! Amelia and I had been wondering how your trip is going so far. The adventure is off to a great start! Thanks especially for the photos--those hazmat suits are impressive and definitely would be an intimidating sight. We look forward to photos of the scenery you're seeing. This blog is great! -- Margaret.