I had been told a few days ago that cab to the Beijing Airport from my hotel at Beijingzhan East Liu (street) was going to cost about 120yuan.
Now in the grand scheme of things, that's about AU$20, but you know what happens when you start living in a new country... you get savvy to the prices that the locals pay for everything, and despite spending close to that amount to get from the airport to the hotel when I first came into China, I was now goldfishing about the extra 20yuan it was going to cost to get back out there.
In my crisscrossing subway adventures, I had noticed that there was an airport express line which was very conveniently just one transfer from my main line to get to. I had intended to catch a cab anyway to Dongzhimen station and just go straight onto the Airport Express to Terminal 2, but when I checked out this morning it was pouring so heavily that taxis scurried like beetles to avoid the rain and just about all of them seemed to be heavy with passengers who would normally be either walking, cycling or catching one of those lightly covered motorcycle one person taxis, that to my mind I've never really seen yet anywhere else in the world.
So I was grateful to have the fallback plan of taking the subway all the way to the airport and that my luggage, though heavier than I would have liked (I blame the sturdy but dense case more than anything) was compact enough for me to levy up and down stairs without having to resort to drastic measures (Lian knows what I'm talking about!:)
I think I must have flown into Beijing's Terminal 3 when I first arrived, because Terminal 2 was not familiar at all.
More domestic flights seems to be on the arrivals and departures screens and at first I was confused as to where I needed to go to check in, as my contact from China Odyssey Tours had only given a flight number as my booking and said that all I needed to do was show up to the counter with my passport and I would be issued with a boarding pass.
I managed to find the correct series of counters, and right before I was up to see the check-in staff, a woman with a tall tween age son, walked right in front of me and started waving her tickets in front of the woman behind the counter.
When it became clear that this wasn't an emergency and the woman behind the counter could do nothing to help her, I had to speak up and really, I was pretty indignant to her face as to why did she think that it was perfectly fine for her to push in right in front of not just me but everyone else in the line to think that she should be served first?! She looked embarrassed, but didn't really say anything, and while I stood glaring at her, she grabbed her bags and walked away. Honestly!
On the whole, the Chinese people I have met here and chatted with have been great. Friendly, helpful and eager to talk about their country and the world; but there have been a few things...
The mad crush to be the first inside the subway, even if people are trying to get out... absolutely no rules for drivers and the pedestrians who risk their lives trying to cross busy intersections... and yesterday someone referred to me as a banana (!) though I think he meant to be lightly teasing, it kinda made me sad to think that even here I could be discriminated against.
I guess in Australia at least I could be vocal in my rebuttal, at the time I was almost too shocked to utter anything more than a "Hey...!" before deciding I'd be better served by walking off into the Tae Kwon Do venue.
For the most part though, it's the younger Chinese that have been the most open and welcoming - the high school student studying to be a teacher who was shyly envious that I had been to Japan and was hoping to one day go himself; the dual US/ Chinese college student who chatted to me about movies and how even though he had taken Tae Kwon Do as an sports option, couldn't figure out the winning moves any better than anyone else in the arena yesterday; and my Xi'an guide, Jung Shing aka Rebecca, a sweet girl who met me today at the airport and who upon showing me around the city's restored South Wall and classical Bell Tower told me her dreams about travelling and her lack of knowledge as a tour guide :) She's right, I got more information on those structures from my DK China book :)
But it's okay, it's a little funny having you own personal guide about town. I feel like she's my kid sister and as she's done tours with far older participants, she's not used to having someone reasonably active (!) In response to whether or not the schedule was too much, I told her that having climbed the Great Wall at Mutianyu, I should be okay taking the steps up a three storey building. Heck, my room in Beijing was on the 4th floor of the complex and there were no elevators. I've been in stair climbing training for over two weeks!
So at this hotel I have access to the Internet, but no USB drive on the Lenovo set up, so I can't add any pictures for a bit, maybe at Chengdu :)
Now in the grand scheme of things, that's about AU$20, but you know what happens when you start living in a new country... you get savvy to the prices that the locals pay for everything, and despite spending close to that amount to get from the airport to the hotel when I first came into China, I was now goldfishing about the extra 20yuan it was going to cost to get back out there.
In my crisscrossing subway adventures, I had noticed that there was an airport express line which was very conveniently just one transfer from my main line to get to. I had intended to catch a cab anyway to Dongzhimen station and just go straight onto the Airport Express to Terminal 2, but when I checked out this morning it was pouring so heavily that taxis scurried like beetles to avoid the rain and just about all of them seemed to be heavy with passengers who would normally be either walking, cycling or catching one of those lightly covered motorcycle one person taxis, that to my mind I've never really seen yet anywhere else in the world.
So I was grateful to have the fallback plan of taking the subway all the way to the airport and that my luggage, though heavier than I would have liked (I blame the sturdy but dense case more than anything) was compact enough for me to levy up and down stairs without having to resort to drastic measures (Lian knows what I'm talking about!:)
I think I must have flown into Beijing's Terminal 3 when I first arrived, because Terminal 2 was not familiar at all.
More domestic flights seems to be on the arrivals and departures screens and at first I was confused as to where I needed to go to check in, as my contact from China Odyssey Tours had only given a flight number as my booking and said that all I needed to do was show up to the counter with my passport and I would be issued with a boarding pass.
I managed to find the correct series of counters, and right before I was up to see the check-in staff, a woman with a tall tween age son, walked right in front of me and started waving her tickets in front of the woman behind the counter.
When it became clear that this wasn't an emergency and the woman behind the counter could do nothing to help her, I had to speak up and really, I was pretty indignant to her face as to why did she think that it was perfectly fine for her to push in right in front of not just me but everyone else in the line to think that she should be served first?! She looked embarrassed, but didn't really say anything, and while I stood glaring at her, she grabbed her bags and walked away. Honestly!
On the whole, the Chinese people I have met here and chatted with have been great. Friendly, helpful and eager to talk about their country and the world; but there have been a few things...
The mad crush to be the first inside the subway, even if people are trying to get out... absolutely no rules for drivers and the pedestrians who risk their lives trying to cross busy intersections... and yesterday someone referred to me as a banana (!) though I think he meant to be lightly teasing, it kinda made me sad to think that even here I could be discriminated against.
I guess in Australia at least I could be vocal in my rebuttal, at the time I was almost too shocked to utter anything more than a "Hey...!" before deciding I'd be better served by walking off into the Tae Kwon Do venue.
For the most part though, it's the younger Chinese that have been the most open and welcoming - the high school student studying to be a teacher who was shyly envious that I had been to Japan and was hoping to one day go himself; the dual US/ Chinese college student who chatted to me about movies and how even though he had taken Tae Kwon Do as an sports option, couldn't figure out the winning moves any better than anyone else in the arena yesterday; and my Xi'an guide, Jung Shing aka Rebecca, a sweet girl who met me today at the airport and who upon showing me around the city's restored South Wall and classical Bell Tower told me her dreams about travelling and her lack of knowledge as a tour guide :) She's right, I got more information on those structures from my DK China book :)
But it's okay, it's a little funny having you own personal guide about town. I feel like she's my kid sister and as she's done tours with far older participants, she's not used to having someone reasonably active (!) In response to whether or not the schedule was too much, I told her that having climbed the Great Wall at Mutianyu, I should be okay taking the steps up a three storey building. Heck, my room in Beijing was on the 4th floor of the complex and there were no elevators. I've been in stair climbing training for over two weeks!
So at this hotel I have access to the Internet, but no USB drive on the Lenovo set up, so I can't add any pictures for a bit, maybe at Chengdu :)
1 comment:
Well the olympics are over - but they were amazing... even for use just seeing it via Channel 7. Some amazing Australian gold wins... but my favourite has to be Sally? who won the silver hurdling. The look on her face was priceless. So shocked she came second. And then to swear on TV. Really aussie there!!
Yes I very well remember you tossing your suitcase down a flight of NY subway stairs. I think it was your inner bag-lady struggling to break free *grin*.
Thanks for keeping up with the blog - I only get to catch up every couple of days - but it's brilliant!
Lian
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