Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Photos
I am currently in the process of adding photos from our trip to my Picasa account.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ariellerohan
http://picasaweb.google.com/ariellerohan
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Ba Da Ling Great Wall
One More Train Trip:
For our Final Adventure in Beijing this year, we decided that the Great Wall of China would be a perfect topper to our little slice of China. We were going to go to the Simatai section of the wall, since it was reported to have the least tourists, and the least rebuilding. We would have been able to see it in it's weathered condition. Thursday as I mentioned in a previous blog, was the most drastic cold front in Beijing yet, and the temperature hasn't made it above freezing since. We couldn't justify taking a 2 day trip out to the Simatai portion of the wall in this weather, so we settled for the closest, most touristy section of the wall, the Ba Da Ling Great Wall.
We actually woke up this morning, pretty early. We were going to head out early, but we really just lingered until 11am in the apartment. I am going to chalk this up to the cold temperatures. Thanks to Fan, we were prepared, and knew the perfect way to reach the great wall. There is a fast train that goes from Beijing North Railway station on the S2 line that is inexpensive and goes straight to the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall. We caught a taxi and headed to Beijing North Railway Station.
Despite it's opening in August of this year, the station is still incomplete. It's a bit of a maze to make it to the actual railway, but the path is well marked (In Chinese) and pretty easy to find. We bought 2 first class seats (a price difference of 3 RMB per seat between first and second class) grabbed some snacks for the train (Beijing street foods) and headed in to the railway waiting area. It was about ten minutes and the train arrived. We loaded up into the train and headed out.
The first class seats are spaced widely apart. The fascinating thing is that you can actually swivel the "row" of 2 seats around to face the ones behind them. There is a table/tray stowed in the back of each chair. Cullen and I took our seats and got ready for the 1 hour train ride. The seats were comfortable, the train was cozy, and we were prepared for a wonderful ride. The first class area was pretty empty. About 2/3 of the seats were empty. We had a very young couple next to us, a pair of girls behind us that were a little older than the couple, and two men directly in front of us. The female in the couple next to us settled all her bags in the two seats in front of her, then popped out her laptop. She immediately blasted the car with Mariah Carey, and her boyfriend, when the announcements came on, was kind enough to turn the volume down out of respect for everyone else in the car. One of the two men in front of us immediately move to the very front of the car into an empty seat once she started the music.
For 1/2 an hour or more, she blasted the same Mariah Carey song on repeat while they both slept. One of the girls behind us finally tapped the boyfriend on the shoulder and he turned it off. She immediately changed to song to another and put that on repeat. It was a song in Chinese, so I'm not sure what it was, but I could probably sing it to you. Cullen and I were both excited to get off the train and away from that laptop.
Despite this, the train ride was exciting. It went pretty fast and the ride was relatively smooth. Once we saw the Great Wall, all I could say was "wow". It really is an awe inspiring sight the way it snakes over the mountains. I have heard it described as a 'dragons spine laid over the mountains,' and I could think of no better description.
Where's a slip and slide when you need it:
We walked out of the train station and up up up toward the entrance to the Ba Da Ling Great Wall. This section has been developed so that even the disabled can climb the wall. I don't think we actually climbed the side that is disability friendly though. Once we started climbing the wall Cullen remarked, "China has the best paved hiking trails." The inclines on some of the spots in the wall were ridiculous. There was one part, where we were coming down, where we couldn't even see the stairs from the beginning of the set of stairs, the incline was so steep. I could see myself tumbling to my doom, and not stopping until a nice sharp curve in the wall. We were really lucky it hadn't snowed. I wouldn't have braved the wall under those conditions.
I have read several posts about very persistent vendors at the Ba Da Ling Great Wall, so I was prepared to be ambushed at the entrance where all the shops were. These posts neglect to mention that the vendors are actually ON the WALL while you are struggling to climb up. They are gathered in clumps in places where people take a break from the steep incline, and ambush you when you are half out of breath. It's really just a matter of ignoring them though they will yell after you for a bit. Cullen didn't have a scarf for our journey, so he decided to bargain for one, since there was no shortage of scarf vendors. She started pretty high, but Cullen managed to get her down to a reasonable price. We walked to the fort at the top, then worked our way down again... being stopped by another vendor, who knew how much he had paid for the scarfs and offered him a slightly lower price. It's really amazing how they communicate with each other. When we passed the scarf-vendor he had bought the scarf from, they wanted to know how much he had paid for a book of the great wall he had bought from another guy. It's really funny. I love the vendors here. They are all such good sports and so friendly. It's so much fun to watch Cullen bargain with them. Even though I know they are just trying to sell things, they really are amazingly friendly. One lady, while her partner was bargaining with Cullen, helped me correctly pronounce the phrase for "how much is it" in Chinese.
After making it off the wall and back to the train station, I stood in a very short line for tickets for the return trip. While I was in line, a man with a camel sauntered by the railway station. Cullen quickly grabbed the camera from me and went to go try and take photos. He returned with three photos of him and the camel. I don't think it spit on him either.
The sun had set by the time we settled onto the train back. We were hoping for a much more pleasant ride, in a similar time span. This ride actually took about 1/2 an hour longer than the trip there, and despite the no smoking sign on the train, the car was filled with cigarette smoke the whole ride back. This time, the train didn't go as fast between stops and was a bit more rough.
Fancy Pants and his amazing Dance:
When we got off we were both starving, so we decided that the Pizza Hut marked on the map near the railway station would be a fair enough stop for dinner. Through a bit of adventure that I will omit here (Cullen can tell everyone if he likes) we managed to find the mall containing the Pizza Hut. When we entered the mall, the temperature change was drastic and welcome. I pulled my cap off and loosened my scarf. We seemed to have entered in the middle of a break dancing contest complete with a huge sound system and dance floor. It appeared to be the preliminary rounds when we arrived and we were too hungry to watch much before dinner, so up to the second level we went for some Pizza Hut excitement.
Dinner as usual in Pizza Hut. When we were done, I decided to snap a bit of video from the dance contest. It was nifty. Then we caught a taxi home. Our final adventure was complete with a bit of surprise dazzle at the end.
For our Final Adventure in Beijing this year, we decided that the Great Wall of China would be a perfect topper to our little slice of China. We were going to go to the Simatai section of the wall, since it was reported to have the least tourists, and the least rebuilding. We would have been able to see it in it's weathered condition. Thursday as I mentioned in a previous blog, was the most drastic cold front in Beijing yet, and the temperature hasn't made it above freezing since. We couldn't justify taking a 2 day trip out to the Simatai portion of the wall in this weather, so we settled for the closest, most touristy section of the wall, the Ba Da Ling Great Wall.
We actually woke up this morning, pretty early. We were going to head out early, but we really just lingered until 11am in the apartment. I am going to chalk this up to the cold temperatures. Thanks to Fan, we were prepared, and knew the perfect way to reach the great wall. There is a fast train that goes from Beijing North Railway station on the S2 line that is inexpensive and goes straight to the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall. We caught a taxi and headed to Beijing North Railway Station.
Despite it's opening in August of this year, the station is still incomplete. It's a bit of a maze to make it to the actual railway, but the path is well marked (In Chinese) and pretty easy to find. We bought 2 first class seats (a price difference of 3 RMB per seat between first and second class) grabbed some snacks for the train (Beijing street foods) and headed in to the railway waiting area. It was about ten minutes and the train arrived. We loaded up into the train and headed out.
The first class seats are spaced widely apart. The fascinating thing is that you can actually swivel the "row" of 2 seats around to face the ones behind them. There is a table/tray stowed in the back of each chair. Cullen and I took our seats and got ready for the 1 hour train ride. The seats were comfortable, the train was cozy, and we were prepared for a wonderful ride. The first class area was pretty empty. About 2/3 of the seats were empty. We had a very young couple next to us, a pair of girls behind us that were a little older than the couple, and two men directly in front of us. The female in the couple next to us settled all her bags in the two seats in front of her, then popped out her laptop. She immediately blasted the car with Mariah Carey, and her boyfriend, when the announcements came on, was kind enough to turn the volume down out of respect for everyone else in the car. One of the two men in front of us immediately move to the very front of the car into an empty seat once she started the music.
For 1/2 an hour or more, she blasted the same Mariah Carey song on repeat while they both slept. One of the girls behind us finally tapped the boyfriend on the shoulder and he turned it off. She immediately changed to song to another and put that on repeat. It was a song in Chinese, so I'm not sure what it was, but I could probably sing it to you. Cullen and I were both excited to get off the train and away from that laptop.
Despite this, the train ride was exciting. It went pretty fast and the ride was relatively smooth. Once we saw the Great Wall, all I could say was "wow". It really is an awe inspiring sight the way it snakes over the mountains. I have heard it described as a 'dragons spine laid over the mountains,' and I could think of no better description.
Where's a slip and slide when you need it:
We walked out of the train station and up up up toward the entrance to the Ba Da Ling Great Wall. This section has been developed so that even the disabled can climb the wall. I don't think we actually climbed the side that is disability friendly though. Once we started climbing the wall Cullen remarked, "China has the best paved hiking trails." The inclines on some of the spots in the wall were ridiculous. There was one part, where we were coming down, where we couldn't even see the stairs from the beginning of the set of stairs, the incline was so steep. I could see myself tumbling to my doom, and not stopping until a nice sharp curve in the wall. We were really lucky it hadn't snowed. I wouldn't have braved the wall under those conditions.
I have read several posts about very persistent vendors at the Ba Da Ling Great Wall, so I was prepared to be ambushed at the entrance where all the shops were. These posts neglect to mention that the vendors are actually ON the WALL while you are struggling to climb up. They are gathered in clumps in places where people take a break from the steep incline, and ambush you when you are half out of breath. It's really just a matter of ignoring them though they will yell after you for a bit. Cullen didn't have a scarf for our journey, so he decided to bargain for one, since there was no shortage of scarf vendors. She started pretty high, but Cullen managed to get her down to a reasonable price. We walked to the fort at the top, then worked our way down again... being stopped by another vendor, who knew how much he had paid for the scarfs and offered him a slightly lower price. It's really amazing how they communicate with each other. When we passed the scarf-vendor he had bought the scarf from, they wanted to know how much he had paid for a book of the great wall he had bought from another guy. It's really funny. I love the vendors here. They are all such good sports and so friendly. It's so much fun to watch Cullen bargain with them. Even though I know they are just trying to sell things, they really are amazingly friendly. One lady, while her partner was bargaining with Cullen, helped me correctly pronounce the phrase for "how much is it" in Chinese.
After making it off the wall and back to the train station, I stood in a very short line for tickets for the return trip. While I was in line, a man with a camel sauntered by the railway station. Cullen quickly grabbed the camera from me and went to go try and take photos. He returned with three photos of him and the camel. I don't think it spit on him either.
The sun had set by the time we settled onto the train back. We were hoping for a much more pleasant ride, in a similar time span. This ride actually took about 1/2 an hour longer than the trip there, and despite the no smoking sign on the train, the car was filled with cigarette smoke the whole ride back. This time, the train didn't go as fast between stops and was a bit more rough.
Fancy Pants and his amazing Dance:
When we got off we were both starving, so we decided that the Pizza Hut marked on the map near the railway station would be a fair enough stop for dinner. Through a bit of adventure that I will omit here (Cullen can tell everyone if he likes) we managed to find the mall containing the Pizza Hut. When we entered the mall, the temperature change was drastic and welcome. I pulled my cap off and loosened my scarf. We seemed to have entered in the middle of a break dancing contest complete with a huge sound system and dance floor. It appeared to be the preliminary rounds when we arrived and we were too hungry to watch much before dinner, so up to the second level we went for some Pizza Hut excitement.
Dinner as usual in Pizza Hut. When we were done, I decided to snap a bit of video from the dance contest. It was nifty. Then we caught a taxi home. Our final adventure was complete with a bit of surprise dazzle at the end.
Friday, December 5, 2008
This is cold
Yesterday when we woke, the temperature was at -2C, not unreasonable considering the sun hadn't quite warmed things. Well, as the day progressed, the wind banged things around and caused a constant whistling in the bathroom. Around 3pm the temperature had dropped to -6C and by the time we went to bed it had made it down to -10.
Having no experience with subzero temperatures and laundry hanging outside,I decided to do laundry in this ridiculously cold temperature. It was a bit cold to hang the clothes on the balcony, but not so cold that I expected what Cullen found in the morning.
Cullen went to retrieve a piece of clothing to wear, and what he returned with was a shirt that was frozen stiff. It took a bit to thaw it over the heater, but the towels were especially frozen. On normal days it usually takes about 2 days to dry them on the balcony.
Laundry, the new experiment.
I also want to add that I think Beijing wastes it's subzero temperatures. What good is a temperature below freezing if you can't have snow? Where's the Snow? The climate is too dry, they say.
Having no experience with subzero temperatures and laundry hanging outside,I decided to do laundry in this ridiculously cold temperature. It was a bit cold to hang the clothes on the balcony, but not so cold that I expected what Cullen found in the morning.
Cullen went to retrieve a piece of clothing to wear, and what he returned with was a shirt that was frozen stiff. It took a bit to thaw it over the heater, but the towels were especially frozen. On normal days it usually takes about 2 days to dry them on the balcony.
Laundry, the new experiment.
I also want to add that I think Beijing wastes it's subzero temperatures. What good is a temperature below freezing if you can't have snow? Where's the Snow? The climate is too dry, they say.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Thanksgiving
To everyone I was unable to reach with our Thanksgiving wishes, I would like to extend them to you as well. We missed home so very much, and family. I arrived home from my short vacation with Fan the day before Thanksgiving, and was totally excited to be back with Cullen, but a bit too exhausted to take on an entire Thanksgiving meal. I cooked our Thanksgiving meal on Friday.
I found the simplest cornbread dressing recipe, Cooked some cornbread, crumbled it with some white bread we bought from the store, stuffed this into a chicken, then baked that while I made the mashed potatoes and green beans. The whole meal took hours to prepare since you can't find things like canned green beans, prepared stuffing mix, or seasoning mixes for Thanksgiving here. We both agreed that it definitely tasted like Thanksgiving. The only missing ingredient was family.
It's just a bit over a week until we fly home now. See you soon.
I found the simplest cornbread dressing recipe, Cooked some cornbread, crumbled it with some white bread we bought from the store, stuffed this into a chicken, then baked that while I made the mashed potatoes and green beans. The whole meal took hours to prepare since you can't find things like canned green beans, prepared stuffing mix, or seasoning mixes for Thanksgiving here. We both agreed that it definitely tasted like Thanksgiving. The only missing ingredient was family.
It's just a bit over a week until we fly home now. See you soon.
day 8?
Do Over:
We slept until we woke without any assistance. We knew our flight was at 7:55pm and we weren't going to put anything in our way to keep us from flying home today. We packed everything for the last time, storing at the front desk of the hotel this time. We headed out to have some lunch since it was already 11:30 by the time we made it down stairs and out of the building. We went to the Golden Gates street, which we were told had a long string of restaurants. We stopped at the first one we saw. Fan went in and ordered pork on the bones and some soup for both of us. The soup arrived in stages. First was the bowl of noodles and a spoon, then was the platter of things to add to the soup. This platter consisted of a large plate with beef, fungus, and some greens such as mint and spinach. There were 3 smaller platters stacked on top of the large dish. One containing onions, another containing pepper and sliced chili peppers, and the final with some more veggies. The final part of the soup arrived, the chicken broth. It was boiling hot and in a bowl ridiculously large. Fan had asked one of the older women at the table next to us how to put the meal together. She said that in Beijing it is always already in the bowl when it arrives, and you never have to put it together yourself. First goes the meat, fungus, and greens on the lower plates... then the veggies and onion platters. You dump the noodles on top of all this, then pepper it to your tastes. I refused to put the meat in mine, uncertain if the broth was hot enough to cook it. Fan dished the extra meat into her bowl.
The meal was delicious and quite filling. I had become better with the chopstick on this little adventure, but still managed to splash some boiling hot broth into my eye while eating. Fan explained the history behind the way the dish is delivered. There was an old politician (I may be recalling this incorrectly. I can't remember what the old man's status was. Maybe he was just a scholar or philosopher.) who desired to live his days apart from his wife, studying all day. Their separate houses were connected by a bridge, and the husband would read books all day long on his side of the bridge. The wife would cook for him, but every meal she cooked would be cold by the time she made it to him with the food. She decided that if she brought the separate pieces of the meal to him, then the bowl of boiling broth, he could finally have a hot meal. I was told it was called a Cross Bridge dish.
After our hot meal, we headed to the Golden Gate just around the corner. The gate was beautiful and Fan explained that if they were great politicians, the people they governed would erect a Gate in their honor so you would be remembered.
We wandered around a little in this area, finding that the wares sold here were the same wares sold in Li Jiang. Fan managed to find a map vendor and on the map, she discovered we were very close to the zoo and a Buddhist temple. We walked the few blocks to the temple and Fan decided, despite he lack of religion, to make an offering to the Buddhist god. She offered incense sticks for money and good luck. She desired mostly the good luck.
The temple was beautiful and the waters were filled with turtles and coy. The peace and quiet of the temple was a very welcome and needed change from the busy city. We spent quite a little bit of time in the temple. Fan made her prayers and I just sat quietly thinking.
When we left the temple, we headed to the hotel to pick up our bags then go to the largest flower market in Kunming. This, I speculate, must be the largest flower market in China, as Kunming is the "Flower Capital" of China. It was large indeed. We had to make our way through a maze of Coffee and Coffee products to finally reach the flowers, but the flowers were an even larger maze of green, red, purple, blue, yellow and pink. It was beautiful. Almost every booth that sold flowers also sold bouquets of dried flowers. There were flowers that were said to bloom if you sprayed them with water for a few days, and flowers that were examples of these bouquets already bloomed. The odor and appearance of so many flowers in one space was intoxicating. The fragrances weren't overpowering, just light and fragrant enough to entice buyers.
We took turns monitoring the luggage, since there was nowhere to store it in the flower market. Fan returned with several new purchases. I only bought one bouquet of roses for Cullen's and my Anniversary to add to the lilies he bought. We made it out of the maze unscathed and had a quick soup at a restaurant outside of the flower market. Once done eating, though it was only 5pm and we were moments away from the airport, we headed out to get a taxi to the airport. The taxi, despite the traffic, dropped us off well before 5:30pm and we didn't dilly dally. We went straight to check in and head to the terminal. The security check was rather speedy and we made it out without any issues. We sat from 5:55pm to 7:35pm waiting. Fan taught me a bit of useful Chinese, and we were both glad to be waiting at the terminal and not the least bit unhappy about the long wait.
When we boarded the flight, we were much more relaxed, and the 3 hours went by very quickly. Landing at 11pm and retrieving our luggage was hassle free. We hopped in a taxi and headed first to her home, then me alone for the rest of the ride back to Cullen. It was so good to be home. Beautiful day, that.
We slept until we woke without any assistance. We knew our flight was at 7:55pm and we weren't going to put anything in our way to keep us from flying home today. We packed everything for the last time, storing at the front desk of the hotel this time. We headed out to have some lunch since it was already 11:30 by the time we made it down stairs and out of the building. We went to the Golden Gates street, which we were told had a long string of restaurants. We stopped at the first one we saw. Fan went in and ordered pork on the bones and some soup for both of us. The soup arrived in stages. First was the bowl of noodles and a spoon, then was the platter of things to add to the soup. This platter consisted of a large plate with beef, fungus, and some greens such as mint and spinach. There were 3 smaller platters stacked on top of the large dish. One containing onions, another containing pepper and sliced chili peppers, and the final with some more veggies. The final part of the soup arrived, the chicken broth. It was boiling hot and in a bowl ridiculously large. Fan had asked one of the older women at the table next to us how to put the meal together. She said that in Beijing it is always already in the bowl when it arrives, and you never have to put it together yourself. First goes the meat, fungus, and greens on the lower plates... then the veggies and onion platters. You dump the noodles on top of all this, then pepper it to your tastes. I refused to put the meat in mine, uncertain if the broth was hot enough to cook it. Fan dished the extra meat into her bowl.
The meal was delicious and quite filling. I had become better with the chopstick on this little adventure, but still managed to splash some boiling hot broth into my eye while eating. Fan explained the history behind the way the dish is delivered. There was an old politician (I may be recalling this incorrectly. I can't remember what the old man's status was. Maybe he was just a scholar or philosopher.) who desired to live his days apart from his wife, studying all day. Their separate houses were connected by a bridge, and the husband would read books all day long on his side of the bridge. The wife would cook for him, but every meal she cooked would be cold by the time she made it to him with the food. She decided that if she brought the separate pieces of the meal to him, then the bowl of boiling broth, he could finally have a hot meal. I was told it was called a Cross Bridge dish.
After our hot meal, we headed to the Golden Gate just around the corner. The gate was beautiful and Fan explained that if they were great politicians, the people they governed would erect a Gate in their honor so you would be remembered.
We wandered around a little in this area, finding that the wares sold here were the same wares sold in Li Jiang. Fan managed to find a map vendor and on the map, she discovered we were very close to the zoo and a Buddhist temple. We walked the few blocks to the temple and Fan decided, despite he lack of religion, to make an offering to the Buddhist god. She offered incense sticks for money and good luck. She desired mostly the good luck.
The temple was beautiful and the waters were filled with turtles and coy. The peace and quiet of the temple was a very welcome and needed change from the busy city. We spent quite a little bit of time in the temple. Fan made her prayers and I just sat quietly thinking.
When we left the temple, we headed to the hotel to pick up our bags then go to the largest flower market in Kunming. This, I speculate, must be the largest flower market in China, as Kunming is the "Flower Capital" of China. It was large indeed. We had to make our way through a maze of Coffee and Coffee products to finally reach the flowers, but the flowers were an even larger maze of green, red, purple, blue, yellow and pink. It was beautiful. Almost every booth that sold flowers also sold bouquets of dried flowers. There were flowers that were said to bloom if you sprayed them with water for a few days, and flowers that were examples of these bouquets already bloomed. The odor and appearance of so many flowers in one space was intoxicating. The fragrances weren't overpowering, just light and fragrant enough to entice buyers.
We took turns monitoring the luggage, since there was nowhere to store it in the flower market. Fan returned with several new purchases. I only bought one bouquet of roses for Cullen's and my Anniversary to add to the lilies he bought. We made it out of the maze unscathed and had a quick soup at a restaurant outside of the flower market. Once done eating, though it was only 5pm and we were moments away from the airport, we headed out to get a taxi to the airport. The taxi, despite the traffic, dropped us off well before 5:30pm and we didn't dilly dally. We went straight to check in and head to the terminal. The security check was rather speedy and we made it out without any issues. We sat from 5:55pm to 7:35pm waiting. Fan taught me a bit of useful Chinese, and we were both glad to be waiting at the terminal and not the least bit unhappy about the long wait.
When we boarded the flight, we were much more relaxed, and the 3 hours went by very quickly. Landing at 11pm and retrieving our luggage was hassle free. We hopped in a taxi and headed first to her home, then me alone for the rest of the ride back to Cullen. It was so good to be home. Beautiful day, that.
Flights (aka confusion)
Final Farewell to Li Jiang:
When we woke, at 7:30am to take the photos, the temperature wasn't as cold as it had been. We dressed, gathered our things for our return, and headed out for breakfast and a bit of exploring. The taxi to take us to the airport was to arrive at about 11:00am since our flight out wasn't until 1:05pm. We stepped out of the gate, the lovely one-eyed dog leading us along. We followed him for a bit, all the way to the middle school in the area, then stopped at a noodle vendor for some breakfast. The noodles were tasty, and we had a lovely time relaxing there at her small table to eat up the warm breakfast. These Chinese breakfast foods were growing on me here in Li Jiang.
Once done with feeding ourselves, we started out to explore the parts of Li Jiang we had yet to see. About an hour into the exploration, we started running into multiple tourist groups. At one point, I decided that I would sit and wait for a tourist group to pass... instead of passing, they all decided this was the perfect time to take a photo with the Westerner on the bench. I can't even count how many people took a photo with me as they passed. They were very kind and friendly about it.
Once the photo session was done, Fan and I continued exploring for a bit, catching all the places of interest that we had missed, and headed back to the hotel to wait for the taxi.
The taxi was right on time, and we loaded up and headed to the airport. We arrived early enough to catch lunch, but since we couldn't find an easily accessible restaurant in the Li Jiang airport, we just checked in and went to wait for the plane.
The plane arrived on time, and we boarded at the time scheduled on the dry-erase board. The airport had very few terminals.
Landing in Kunming:
Once we finally took to the air, the flight was short, sweet, and without incident. We had quite a long layover until our flight from Kunming to Beijing so we decided to store our luggage with the airport security. They charged 5 RMB per bag up to 4 hours and 10 RMB for 4-10 hours. We headed out to see the park that is reported to have all the birds, and were then going to visit the small flower market near the airport so as not to encounter any traffic jams, since the taxi driver had warned us the road construction on the main street was causing traffic jams in the city. It was Tuesday, so we knew we would need to avoid 5pm traffic. Our flight left at 7:55pm, so we were going to head to the flower market at 4:30pm, then from there hit the airport between 5:30 and 6pm to get dinner and our bags and check in for the flight.
We found the park just fine, and since we couldn't find any restaurants near by, we settled for food from the bakery that we could choose to share with the birds if we wanted. We each had a buttered and sugared bread and another pastry. My second pastry was a hot dog wrapped in sweet bread with cheese and some green onions baked on top. This was glazed with a sweet sugar glaze and baked to perfection. Fan's second pastry appeared to be a filled sweet bread, but I was more interested in my lunch than questioning her about hers.
We headed across the street to the park and were amazed at the numbers of migratory birds floating in the small lake. At first I thought this had to be all the birds there were, the numbers were amazing, but when we started down the path, we noticed another lake filled with birds. I'm horrible at estimating, but I can say for approximation there were about 2 birds per square foot, and these birds were about 2/3 the size of your average duck. They were packed in there.
I was far too hungry to share my bread with the birds, but they didn't mind taking Fan's hand-outs. Like any birds, they would squabble over the small bits of food. After a generous wander around the park, we caught a taxi to the Flower Market, well before the alarm for 4:30pm went off.
We made it to the flower market and were informed that the airport was a short walk from the flower market and we wouldn't even need to take a taxi there. We browsed the wares of several booths, purchasing some small gifts and then Fan found some blue roses to buy for herself. She was amazed at how cheap they were compared to their price in Beijing.
Dinner and failure:
After securing our gifts and such we headed toward the airport. We were ahead of schedule, and none to worried. We were told the airport was only 5 min away, but found ourself walking for 30 min to get there. This was fine since we arrived at the airport around 6pm with plenty of time to eat a meal and get our luggage back. We headed to the KFC again and sat down. We left KFC at about 6:45 to get our luggage and, instead of being able to just go retrieve it, we had to wait for an attendee to bring it to us. This took until about 7pm, which had us a bit frustrated, so we had to hurry back upstairs to wait to check in. We still appeared to have enough time to get through security, to the gate to board the plane. We waited in line to check in and I pulled out my passport. Fan pulled her wallet out to get her ID, but couldn't find it. She searched for a while through her bags, trying to find the ID but eventually told me to check in while she looked.
I got to the front of the line, but the attendant said she wouldn't help me and that I should go to another line. I am still uncertain why she moved me to another line, but I went to the next line, and waited for the 2 people in front of me. By the time I reached the front of the line, I can't even speculate what time it was, but the attendant told me I was too late and that I should go book another flight. My spirit was crushed.
Fan had gone somewhere to look for her ID or to call someone. She was nowhere to be found. I was alone, and couldn't read a word of Chinese. All the flights and flight listings were in Chinese. I had never in my life missed a plane before and certainly not in a country where I couldn't speak the language. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and so overwhelmed.
I set my bags down in the middle of cold airport floor and just cried. I couldn't think of what to do. I was horribly frightened.
About 2 min. after sitting down on the floor, I called Fan. I could barely get the words out... "I missed the flight. They told me I was too late."
"Oh wow." was her response. She couldn't think of what to say.
I sent a text message to Cullen and he was astounded (he may well have a different description and is more than welcome to contribute).
I just sat there for a while, crying. The couple from Shanghai said hello to me... all I could manage was a wave back. I had tears pouring out of my eyes and my mind was running in circles while all I saw was Chinese characters. A girl came up and asked me in perfect English if I was ok... of course, I had a hard time getting the explanation out, but while I was telling her, Fan called and told me to come over to the entrance of KFC where she was looking for her ID still. I thanked the girl, she was so kind and caring, and headed over to where Fan was frantically pulling all the contents of her bags out on the floor.
Fan was certain she would have to spend the night in the airport because without an ID you can't even book a hotel in China. With me there, she could at least book a hotel with my passport. Though this made things easier, she still searched over and over for her ID. Taking a break only to go find out how she could get tickets back to Beijing and how much work she would have to do to get her identity verified.
When Fan returned, she noticed that her ID was right in the window it was supposed to be in, just buried behind some business cards she had received. We were both relieved. Not only could we book tickets and get out of Kunming the next day, but she was now able to book a hotel with ease.
Fan booked the tickets for the same flight number the next day. We headed out of the airport and jumped in a taxi for the hotel her husband had found on the internet near the airport in Kunming. We were both a bit shaken and just wanted some sleep. Thanks to Cullen and Fan, I was able to calm down and get some rest.
When we woke, at 7:30am to take the photos, the temperature wasn't as cold as it had been. We dressed, gathered our things for our return, and headed out for breakfast and a bit of exploring. The taxi to take us to the airport was to arrive at about 11:00am since our flight out wasn't until 1:05pm. We stepped out of the gate, the lovely one-eyed dog leading us along. We followed him for a bit, all the way to the middle school in the area, then stopped at a noodle vendor for some breakfast. The noodles were tasty, and we had a lovely time relaxing there at her small table to eat up the warm breakfast. These Chinese breakfast foods were growing on me here in Li Jiang.
Once done with feeding ourselves, we started out to explore the parts of Li Jiang we had yet to see. About an hour into the exploration, we started running into multiple tourist groups. At one point, I decided that I would sit and wait for a tourist group to pass... instead of passing, they all decided this was the perfect time to take a photo with the Westerner on the bench. I can't even count how many people took a photo with me as they passed. They were very kind and friendly about it.
Once the photo session was done, Fan and I continued exploring for a bit, catching all the places of interest that we had missed, and headed back to the hotel to wait for the taxi.
The taxi was right on time, and we loaded up and headed to the airport. We arrived early enough to catch lunch, but since we couldn't find an easily accessible restaurant in the Li Jiang airport, we just checked in and went to wait for the plane.
The plane arrived on time, and we boarded at the time scheduled on the dry-erase board. The airport had very few terminals.
Landing in Kunming:
Once we finally took to the air, the flight was short, sweet, and without incident. We had quite a long layover until our flight from Kunming to Beijing so we decided to store our luggage with the airport security. They charged 5 RMB per bag up to 4 hours and 10 RMB for 4-10 hours. We headed out to see the park that is reported to have all the birds, and were then going to visit the small flower market near the airport so as not to encounter any traffic jams, since the taxi driver had warned us the road construction on the main street was causing traffic jams in the city. It was Tuesday, so we knew we would need to avoid 5pm traffic. Our flight left at 7:55pm, so we were going to head to the flower market at 4:30pm, then from there hit the airport between 5:30 and 6pm to get dinner and our bags and check in for the flight.
We found the park just fine, and since we couldn't find any restaurants near by, we settled for food from the bakery that we could choose to share with the birds if we wanted. We each had a buttered and sugared bread and another pastry. My second pastry was a hot dog wrapped in sweet bread with cheese and some green onions baked on top. This was glazed with a sweet sugar glaze and baked to perfection. Fan's second pastry appeared to be a filled sweet bread, but I was more interested in my lunch than questioning her about hers.
We headed across the street to the park and were amazed at the numbers of migratory birds floating in the small lake. At first I thought this had to be all the birds there were, the numbers were amazing, but when we started down the path, we noticed another lake filled with birds. I'm horrible at estimating, but I can say for approximation there were about 2 birds per square foot, and these birds were about 2/3 the size of your average duck. They were packed in there.
I was far too hungry to share my bread with the birds, but they didn't mind taking Fan's hand-outs. Like any birds, they would squabble over the small bits of food. After a generous wander around the park, we caught a taxi to the Flower Market, well before the alarm for 4:30pm went off.
We made it to the flower market and were informed that the airport was a short walk from the flower market and we wouldn't even need to take a taxi there. We browsed the wares of several booths, purchasing some small gifts and then Fan found some blue roses to buy for herself. She was amazed at how cheap they were compared to their price in Beijing.
Dinner and failure:
After securing our gifts and such we headed toward the airport. We were ahead of schedule, and none to worried. We were told the airport was only 5 min away, but found ourself walking for 30 min to get there. This was fine since we arrived at the airport around 6pm with plenty of time to eat a meal and get our luggage back. We headed to the KFC again and sat down. We left KFC at about 6:45 to get our luggage and, instead of being able to just go retrieve it, we had to wait for an attendee to bring it to us. This took until about 7pm, which had us a bit frustrated, so we had to hurry back upstairs to wait to check in. We still appeared to have enough time to get through security, to the gate to board the plane. We waited in line to check in and I pulled out my passport. Fan pulled her wallet out to get her ID, but couldn't find it. She searched for a while through her bags, trying to find the ID but eventually told me to check in while she looked.
I got to the front of the line, but the attendant said she wouldn't help me and that I should go to another line. I am still uncertain why she moved me to another line, but I went to the next line, and waited for the 2 people in front of me. By the time I reached the front of the line, I can't even speculate what time it was, but the attendant told me I was too late and that I should go book another flight. My spirit was crushed.
Fan had gone somewhere to look for her ID or to call someone. She was nowhere to be found. I was alone, and couldn't read a word of Chinese. All the flights and flight listings were in Chinese. I had never in my life missed a plane before and certainly not in a country where I couldn't speak the language. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and so overwhelmed.
I set my bags down in the middle of cold airport floor and just cried. I couldn't think of what to do. I was horribly frightened.
About 2 min. after sitting down on the floor, I called Fan. I could barely get the words out... "I missed the flight. They told me I was too late."
"Oh wow." was her response. She couldn't think of what to say.
I sent a text message to Cullen and he was astounded (he may well have a different description and is more than welcome to contribute).
I just sat there for a while, crying. The couple from Shanghai said hello to me... all I could manage was a wave back. I had tears pouring out of my eyes and my mind was running in circles while all I saw was Chinese characters. A girl came up and asked me in perfect English if I was ok... of course, I had a hard time getting the explanation out, but while I was telling her, Fan called and told me to come over to the entrance of KFC where she was looking for her ID still. I thanked the girl, she was so kind and caring, and headed over to where Fan was frantically pulling all the contents of her bags out on the floor.
Fan was certain she would have to spend the night in the airport because without an ID you can't even book a hotel in China. With me there, she could at least book a hotel with my passport. Though this made things easier, she still searched over and over for her ID. Taking a break only to go find out how she could get tickets back to Beijing and how much work she would have to do to get her identity verified.
When Fan returned, she noticed that her ID was right in the window it was supposed to be in, just buried behind some business cards she had received. We were both relieved. Not only could we book tickets and get out of Kunming the next day, but she was now able to book a hotel with ease.
Fan booked the tickets for the same flight number the next day. We headed out of the airport and jumped in a taxi for the hotel her husband had found on the internet near the airport in Kunming. We were both a bit shaken and just wanted some sleep. Thanks to Cullen and Fan, I was able to calm down and get some rest.
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