So, I guess I will blog again--helps me process and remember. Mike is posting the blogs for me. This is being sent without pictures until I can figure out when and how to add pictures!
Our flight took off from Seattle about 9 PM and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset along the Canadian coastline. Actually, the sun didn’t set since we were chasing it to the northwest. We relished seeing the San Juan Islands with skies of dusky pinks changing to dark purple streaks then were treated to views of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. “These are the largest temperate-latitude icecaps in the world and fuel a number of major rivers“, according to Wikipedia. The snow clad peaks were rugged and endless in number. Peaks oriented just right towards the sun were daubed with bright pink patches. As light failed more, the mountains looked like an ocean of pink foamed waves surrounded by graying water. Finally we left land behind and flew over a whole landscape of mountain-like clouds below us as we pursued the pale sun. It was a remarkable sequence.
Dinner came and went and although we were feeling sleepy, the light both inside and out was still bright and the people around us were talkative. Eventually, we managed a few hours of sleep with the help of half a sleeping pill each. All in all, the flight was easy, but we missed a few of the amenities we had experienced on our flights on Virgin Airways--earplugs, eye covers, big earphones, individual TV screens, heavy blankets. My how spoiled we’ve become. We at least had brought the saved earplugs and eye covers with us.
We landed in Beijing at about 10:30 at night to very warm temperatures but with a light sultry breeze. (We have just discovered that Monday’s temperature of 104 degrees broke all of July’s heat records in Beijing--oh, boy….) We found our luggage and proceeded to immigration. Here there were 6-8 “National Chinese” stations but only two manned “Foreigners” stations. For 15-20 minutes we waited in a line that barely moved. Suddenly, a guard took one Chinese family out of the line to another line and the fluctuating line game began. We played well and were through immigration in minutes with no hassles of any kind. In fact, the immigration officer was much more friendly than some of the American ones we have encountered at the Canadian border!
Exiting the area we scanned the many people waiting holding sign cards. Ah, there was ours: Mr. Mark Spee, Mrs. Sandra Spee. Our guide for the next several days, Annie, cheerfully greeted us and shepherded us to our mini-van and driver Mr. Gin. A half hour’s drive (no traffic due to the late hour) brought us to our three-star but very nice Days Inn Forbidden City. Annie helped check us in and promised to return in the morning for our tour to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and hutongs (traditional alleyway neighborhoods). More on that tomorrow, of course. We popped another half sleeping pill and fell gratefully into bed feeling relieved that all had gone so well.
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