First day in Beijing
Trip Start
Jun 10, 2008
1
3
Trip End
Jun 22, 2008
Beijing,
China
Monday, June 16, 2008
The first photo you will see is where my trip officially started - San Francisco. I was attending a conference on Green Events at the Palace Hotel. It was a very good conference and was encouraging to see so many people interested in becoming better stewards of the planet while hosting meetings & travel. The Palace is a beautiful historic hotel and was the place where Jean (sister) and I used to go for brunch when I visited her. It was set up in this "courtyard". Jean was the first person in our family to go to China, so I guess it was synchronistic that I start my journey there.
The next photo is the view of the airport from my hotel room in Vancouver. I have to say, every trip to Canada, no matter how long or short is a joy for me. It always strikes me how peaceful the place is - even in an airport. Sure, it is buys and noisy, but it's very controlled, calm and clean. It was hard to be there just overnight.
My friend Tom, from Vancouver had laughed when I told him which airline I was flying to Beijing - honestly, it made me a bit anxious. Well, it was, of course, just fine. I was on China Air - a partner with United. There were maybe 7-10 Westerners on the flight - 3 of us were in business class. What was really interesting is that we all sat in the same row. The man sitting across the aisle from me was someone who looked more at home sitting in the local diner in a small Nebraska town. Cowboy boots & shirt, Wrangler jeans, a fu manchu mustache that extended to his sideburns. Looked just a tad out of place - turns out he supervises the installation of some kind of machinery in aluminum plants throughout the world. He also ranches in the state of Washington. The best way to describe the service is "efficient". No sooner than we took off, drinks & snacks were being served - barely took a couple of sips when dinner was being served. You would have thought the flight was only an hour long! The movies they had were very old - did see a very good Chinese movie, but that was about it. Luckily I had a lot to read. The most interesting aspect of the flight was observing the flight attendants. All were women except to two men - one very young and the other in his mid to late 40's. He must have been the "boss", as I didn't see him do hardly anything throughout the flight. I was having trouble with my screen and as he walked by I asked him for assistance. He tried a couple of things (I think I knew more about the controls than he did), got frustrated and ordered one of the women to help me. He basically read newspapers throughout. Oh, and one other observation - it doesn't matter what culture, men (in general) do not know how to clean up after themselves in airplane bathrooms. I have noticed this on every flight in every country I have flown to.
The Beijing airport is huge and beautiful. I will never again complain about Atlanta or Dallas, as Beijing puts these to shame. It is the cleanest airport I have ever seen and the architecture is gorgeous. I was met at the gate (yes, the gate) by a very young and professional looking woman who escorted me to customs, then to baggage claim. The "L" right before a Cross-Town Classic is virtually empty, if you compare it to a tram to baggage claim. I have never seen so many people crowd on a tram - and they just kept coming. No such thing as personal space. Customs was the most efficient I have experienced - no questions asked - the agent simply compared my passport photo to me (I did get him to smile when I said, "bad photo, don't you think?") and he sent me on my way in about 30 seconds. They X-ray all the bags after you claim them, but don't ask to see your passport again. If Chicago wins the bid for 2016 Olympics, they have a TON of work to do to improve ORD and their "processing". My escort took me down a different corridor than all others and when she opened the door, it was as if I was stepping into another building. There were marble floors, beautiful wood paneling & decor - she said it was for their very VIP guests. As we walked down the corridor that looked more like a hotel, there was my car & driver waiting for me. By the time I walked off the plane, cleared customs, claimed luggage, and was driven to the hotel, it was just over an hour. Unbelievable.
Annie, the Assist. Director of Sales (my primary contact) was waiting for me at the door as well as the Assist. Director of F&B (who was manager on duty). I was surprised that she was there - I didn't want my first impression to be that of this disheveled mass that stood in front of her. She asked if I would like to sit down with them in the lounge for a drink. Frankly, all I wanted to do was get to my room and collapse, but establishing relationships here is very important, so I asked for about 30 minutes to freshen up. She and the front office manager escorted me up to my room and "checked me in" there. I'm in a very nice suite and it is very comfortable. We met in the concierge lounge and chatted for a couple of hours. I had 2 glasses of wine and by the time I made it back to my room (which she insisted she escort me), I was done. I wanted to stay awake until 9pm, but I only lasted until 8pm.
I woke up on and off throughout the night and finally got up around 7am or so. After doing some prep work for the meetings with the hotel, I was finally able to take my first stroll around Beijing. The hotel is only a few blocks from the Forbidden City, so that is where I headed. At first, the smog wasn't an issue, but as time went on, I could feel my nose and eyes starting to burn. About halfway to the Forbidden City, a young man who had been walking next to me started a conversation with me. He had a pin with the American flag with the Chinese flag - his English was pretty good. I wasn't sure what to make of the conversation - he was asking A LOT of questions. Immediately I went into my mode of defense and answered everything very vaguely and did not establish much eye contact. I found myself holding on to my purse much more securely, thinking I was marked for a snatch and grab or something similar. He would not leave me alone. He was giving me interesting information as we walked, but he was attached to me. He told me he was a student and he was here with his class and professor. As we reached the Forbidden City, he was explaining the outside gate to me, etc. - then he asked me to go inside with him to see an exhibition. I was very uncomfortable, so I told him I had to get back to the hotel. I walked over to the side of the street which is where I took the photo of Tienanmen Square. He finally left me alone. I wanted to go in to the City, but waited around and took more photos and looked for him to make sure he wasn't around. So, I ventured in through the gate. As I was walking through the gate, a young lady approached me and asked where I was from (very few Westerners inside, so it was obvious I was "from out of town"). We started talking and she told me this was her first time in Beijing as well. She was very nice and she asked me questions about our language and America in general. Well, turns out she is with the same class and professor that this other guy was talking about and once I made the connection, I felt terrible. There was a section inside one of the buildings that said "Chinese Art Exhibition" - she told me that was her class and her artwork was some of what was displayed. There were some beautiful pieces and she showed me her watercolors & ink on rice paper & silk. There were also some amazing lacquer pieces with Chinese words - she explained to me some of the symbols and for the first time, I could kind of understand how they are conceived. I ended up buying two of her works (balance is important, odd numbers are bad). Okay, you are thinking what I was when all was said and done - sounds like a scam and I am out some bucks. Well, that might be the case, but it wasn't all that much money and I couldn't help but think that Lucas would want me to help an art student whether it was a scam or not. At least I have two pieces that I like and there you go. I never got all the way in to The Forbidden City - it was around 5pm and I knew that there would not be enough time to see everything. I think I will have another opportunity to get over there and see the interior. Oh, and the young man came back in the exhibit and although I knew he saw me, he did not acknowledge me.
Some notes about the photos - I'm not sure why they are showing up so dark - when I downloaded them, they were just fine. You will see a couple of photos of the Chinese Guard training some of the men inside the entrance to the Forbidden City - it looked as though they were training in crowd control. These photos are for Gerry. One of the guards outside the gate looked like he was 14. The women cleaning the sidewalk was interesting - they were scrapping gum - this was in front of the FC. The photo of the door with the big brass knobs - everyone was rubbing them - maybe it means good luck?
A few other things I learned (and then I'll stop writing). You don't cross the street like you do in Chicago - they have street crossing police. You listen when a Chinese Guard tells you "no stopping" (As I was leaving, I wanted to take a picture, but I guess that was not the area you were allowed to). He was polite, but stern. It is very interesting to stand out in a crowd. Had lots of "looks" from the crowd - especially when I was speaking English with my little friend. As I was departing, there were a couple of older women that came up to me and patted me on the shoulder, smiled, bowed and walked away. Have no idea what that was about.
Well, that's about it for now - it's actually 6am on Tuesday as I finish this. I was having technical difficulties with this site when I was working on this last night and finally gave up. I woke up at 3am this morning (big surprise) and so I thought I would give it another go. Scheduled to meet with the hotel most of the day and then Annie is taking me to dinner. More stories to follow - if you are interested, that is!
Cheers & Peace -
cac
Comments
Wow! That's amazing!
Hey Cindy!
Its Robert from the Hyatt in San Diego. Its so awesome that you are finally there! Keep the pictures and the stories coming! Be careful and have fun over there.