The Flight and First Impressions

The flight was quite a treat according to one gentleman who told us he has been flying every three months for the last 5 years and he had never seen Mt. McKinnley. We did a U turn around the highest peak in North America. We flew north up to Whitehorse across Alaska and then over the straight (very cloudy) and then I couldn’t actually tell you if it was Siberia that I saw next but I think I will stick to that story and then down the coast to Beijing. The flight was uneventful until the end when the plane ran out of water (okay that is my story) but we had no more water and Andy did not get his THIRD meal of the day…hot noodles. He claims he was hungry!

Customs was uneventful, except that Gary and Joyce chose THE slowest line in the entire airport and were THE last two people to clear customs from our flight. Luckily everyone else waited patiently for us. Beijing…..My first impression…very gray…I am getting very tired by this time…it is now around 3 in the morning according to my internal clock. The place is very smoky. It smells like the forest fires. No one knows why yet.

We were greeted by our travel guides (Bob, Yulin and group from Family Outreach International) and were shuttled onto a bus to take us to the airport hotel. We quickly organized our luggage into Nanchang and Beijing luggage and it was taken to its chosen destination by our guides. Then, another meal. The group of us were taken to a small restaurant just around the corner from the hotel. Andy wanted to go across the street (there was a huge sign that said “hamburgers”) but we ended up going to the Chinese place. Lamb, beef, mushrooms, bread, noodles, and several unidentified vegetables were placed in front of us and we essentially “boiled” them in our own individual little fondue pots. Beverages included Coke, Sprite, water and Chinese beer (the favourite by a large margin). And the cost – 35 Yuan per person which is just over $5.00 Canadian. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and everyone went to their rooms. We were bed before 8:30pm local time – but that’s OK – tomorrow is the biggest day of our lives (and a big change for little Haley).