Arrived in Beijing. December 17, 2014

Hi All – I think I’m supposed to be saying “Wenhau” —

Anyway, this is just a very brief note as it is 6 am body time, and I haven’t slept yet. We left San Francisco at noon on Monday and now it is about 10 pm on Tuesday night in Beijing.

Mostly wanted to let you know that we arrived safe and sound after a very easy direct, non-stop flight from SFO to Beijing. Typical United.. we left late and arrived early. We were comfortably situated in the upper level of the plane, in Business Class. I must say that we packed until about midnight on Sunday night — expertly folding and eliminating things to be sure we would have just carry on (which is our standard procedure). The bags were like a work of art utilizing every single inch of space without having to expand them. Each of our computer bags weighed a ton, filled with gear and devices (me: computer, SLR camera, small camera, iPod, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry; Mike same except no Blackberry, no iPad, no iPod).

Then at about midnight we checked into the flight and saw that we were seated in the upper level (which I generally really like because it’s quiet.. only business travelers.. and lots of attention). But, you have to go up that very narrow staircase with your carry-on bags. We realized that we’d have to make multiple trips up and down those stairs… and after all that effort decided to bag it.. and check one bag each..

We had a bit of a scare once on the plane when they handed out the forms to fill out. They ask information about your departure from China… and we’ve got a little mess on our hands with that… since we are leaving from Lhasa (Tibet) and it’s unclear how that works. We do have a backup flight from Beijing to Tokyo. It’s a really long story involving the bureaucracies of nations. Anyway, we were relieved when Chinese Customs only wanted to see the arrival forms.

Landed at Beijing Airport, which is gigantic and incredibly new and clean. After Customs you have to take a train about three stops to get your baggage and then find a taxi. Long lines for everything. Relieved that our bags both arrived, we headed to find a taxi. It took a few minutes to get the swing of things and we found the taxi line. When it was our turn, we needed to say where we were going so the person handling the cabs could determine which taxi would take us. Naturally, no English… and the papers with the hotel confirmation were buried in my bag. But the trusty smart phone worked fine and we were able to explain the location of the hotel. The person in charge of taxis waved us to a very large van, not a taxi. Naturally we were suspicious and asked why we weren’t getting a taxi but no one could explain. My NY instinct was correct; we were non-Asian foreigners and they were putting us in more expensive vehicle. I asked the price.. and the driver said 700CNY which is about $100. The hotel information said the taxi would cost about 110 CNY. So we objected and then he offered us 300 and eventually 250, but by then we felt we were being ripped off so we got out of the van and went back to the taxi line and got a very nice driver who played music in English (although we have not a clue what that music was)… and we rode across Beijing to the Hutong area where we are spending the first two nights.

Hutongs are actually the word to define very narrow streets that are formed form having courtyard houses built close to the streets.. so that the buildings line the streets. They are common in northern China but are disappearing fast with new development. I imagine the whole city was once just hutongs.. Indeed apparently these neighborhoods were built in concentric circles around the center of the city with the aristocrats living in fancy hutong areas very close to the center and working people living further out. But now there is a bit of an effort (after demolishing most of the hutong neighborhoods) to preserve some remaining ones and they are becoming somewhat “chic.”.. Anyway, we are staying in a hutong (which we didn’t get to see much of last night since we arrived after dark).. so today (December 18) we will be exploring this neighborhood (and our little hotel).

What we saw as we emerged from the taxi (the driver tried to have us get out at a youth hostel which is down the street since he couldn’t easily find the Orchid Hotel).. great little streets lined with tiny restaurants and shops.. lots of activity.. clearly a working class neighborhood with some newly minted shops that cater beyond essentials… frequented by young people (like me!). The Orchid is actually down a very narrow alley off of the tiny street! It was a little hard to find, but the hotel is very tech savvy and they sent a very very detailed and quite well done graphic map (in English).. so we were actually able to guide the taxi driver from the hostel (which was on the map) to the hotel!

It’s two floors with about 9 rooms..and sort of rambles. We are on the second floor with an outdoor stair (wood and very narrow) to get to our room. It’s quite charming.. very simple.. all white. We meandered outside after getting help carrying the bags up the stairs.. and ate at a Yunan restaurant just a few doors down. Good, inexpensive. We ordered a potato dish that was like a giant latke with some chives on top.. crispy and a great side dish. We had a beef and basil something — spicy and also good.. and then some kind of wontons filled with a local and unidentifiable vegetable.. also good.. and Chinese beer. The restaurant seats about 25 and we were off on a side. Across the room were 24 college/grad school students (Brits or maybe Aussies) who are studying Chinese for a year but who I think go to Oxford.. or at least that’s what I gleaned from eavesdropping. They were celebrating someone’s birthday.

More after we explore the hutongs.

Fern