The wake-up alarm brought us into a rapid state of (semi) consciousness at 04:00 and after a quick shower and a check of bags and travel documents we said a temporary farewell to Bobbie (we’ll see her again in three weeks) and jumped into a taxi and headed for Hong Kong airport. At this time of the morning the roads were pretty much deserted which gave our taxi driver the opportunity to practise for any future Hong Kong F1 grand prix. The maximum speed we reached was only 135 km/h but considering the age and dilapidated condition of the taxi this was impressive!
We alighted at Terminal Two and duly found that we should have been at Terminal One; this being our mistake having misread the itinerary in the dark of the taxi. Fortunately we were in no great rush and the walk from one terminal to the other took only a matter of a few minutes and was very well signposted.
When the time came for boarding our Beijing flight, a massive passenger queue formed extending from the departure lounge, around the corner and into a corridor so far away that we weren’t even certain if this was still the correct flight.
Tony enjoying business class on Hong Kong Airlines plane
On finally reaching the check-in staff we were pleasantly informed that we had been upgraded and were now to be travelling in business-class. We didn’t ask for this and no reasons for the change were offered but we certainly did not complain about this unexpected alteration.
The Hong Kong Airline’s Airbus 330 was newish and the facilities in business class were luxurious, super comfortable and the quality of the in-flight service and meals left nothing to be desired. The only criticism was that it being an early morning flight meant that alcoholic drinks weren’t available so Corinne’s ‘Bloody Mary’; her traditional holiday tipple was not on offer. Before leaving the plane, one of the very attractive stewardesses came and chatted with us and amongst other questions asked us if “we’d enjoyed our fright” to which we gave an unequivocal affirmative response!
We arrived in Beijing at around 10:30 and we were through customs and immigration very promptly. We soon found our ‘g-adventures’ contact driver and after raiding an ATM for Y1000 we headed into Beijing city. The main highway from the airport into the city seems little different from when we were last here in 2007 with the traffic still being chaotic. The avenue of trees lining the highway seems remarkably healthy and green despite the pollution that must result from this traffic density.
Surprisingly, the weather conditions we initially experienced were great with a pleasant temperature of 27°C and clear skies with significant patches of blue. The smog and haze that we’d encountered last time were not apparent, well at least today they weren’t.
Our taxi dropped us off at our Chong Wen Men Hotel which is close to the heart of Beijing and near the main railway station.
After checking in we went for a walk in the local shopping precinct and were surprised to see the changes in Beijing since we were last here. The traffic is just as bad as before but now battery-powered mopeds have largely replaced the previously ubiquitous bicycles.
We walked along the main road from our hotel and encountered touts by the dozen seeking custom for their eating houses, acupuncturists operating in the street and clothing stalls on the footpath. The present preoccupation in the merchandising division seems to be women’s shoes with numerous shops focussing on this demand.
We ventured down a back street and found a supposedly hutong area that looked a bit too modern to be the real thing. In the alleyway we sighted window cleaners abseiling down the side of a 15 storey building with their buckets attached to their rope. As fortune would have it, a small 7 Eleven shop was discovered in the back street and we bought some local beer to have later when the sun was a little lower in the sky.
Street Scene, Beijing
Bicycle park, Beijing
Street garbage collector, Beijing
Window cleaning, Beijing
Tricycle van, Beijing
Our group of 12 people in the G Adventures “Wild China” trip met with our guide Paul at 18:00 and after the usual introductions, formalities and paper work we all headed around to a back street restaurant for a delicious banquet style meal featuring tasty and authentic Chinese cuisine. The cost for each person was Y35 (less than $8). The current exchange rate is Y4.61 to the Aussie $.
After some final planning for tomorrow’s trip to the Great Wall we headed for a nearby supermarket to be greeted with the doors closing just as we arrived. We thus need to work on plan B for tomorrow’s snacks.