Day 1

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So it seems that my former attempt at blogging may not pan out so I am giving this website a shot. So far it is not blocked in China.

Interesting observations concerning flying on Hainan to Beijing:
-the stewards and stewardesses wear beautiful Chinese outfits that put other airlines to shame (blue with two lines of yellow flowers orderly lined up and down)
-calming music that plays as long as we are on the ground and is only one notch above elevator music
-about 2 hours into our flight they walked down the aisles taking everyone's temperature to check for fevers. How, you ask? They just point what look like those police speed guns at your forehead at look at a number that is likely not related to the speed of sitting.
-around the same time they passed out Health Information cards so we could record any possibility of us having/developing/or being exposed to swine flu.
-the meals did not come with chopsticks though the napkins smelled really bad (kind of black peppery)
-Every time I looked out the window I saw land beneath us. Apparently we took a route that took us over Canada, across the Beiring Strait (I guess I wasn't looking then) and through North Eastern Russia.
-The only way I could tell that it was supposed to be night time was because all the stewards/esses came through aisles personally closing the blinds on our windows and the cabin lights dimmed. It confused me each time I looked outside it was bright as midday.
-the seats don't lock in position once you have stopped pressing the button. To lean your seat back just maintain push back.
-we were served cups of water and tea rather regularly and almost each time they came through to take our trash, I asked for more water (the stewards were very nice)

One thing about flying into Beijing was the moment I looked out of the window and saw the beautiful rolling green hills and mountains rising out of the low lying fog. It made for a lovely scene until I realized that most of it was smog! I also experienced a bit of a shock when I took a quick pit stop before getting on our bus to go to the hotel...a squat toilette!!!! I knew that they were here but I was not fully prepared for them at the time. (I gave it four stars out of five since it had toilette paper and the floor seemed relatively clean).

Our Four Star Hotel looks like a five star hotel. Especially on the first floor. Once we got to our rooms we noticed the small things.
-The piping under the sink is made of cheap plastic as well as the bottom of the tubs.
-the carpets have stains in them that look suspiciously like cigarette stains despite the sign that says no smoking
-the beds are really short and really firm (I like the last part though...actually comfortable)

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Comments

[Jim (Dad)]

Love your observations
Mal - love hearing your comments and observations - keep them coming. Love you!