It's 2100 local. Sitting here in the upper deck of Air China's lounge within the International Transfers part of the massive Terminal. We have WIFI access however, it's patently obvious to me that the Chinese government is controlling/limiting what I can or can't access. I can't browse over to Facebook or into my blog site - I get error messages but, I can get to many other website links that I would characterize as benign. Oh well. I'll continue to blog here in notepad and when we finally get to Australia, I'll post a bunch of days.
 |
| A partial view of the AC lounge from the corner I was sitting in |
Back in the air....
 |
| Blogging away inflight |
Rose and I have now been traveling for 24hrs! It's 0305 back home in New Jersey and we're still 2+30 out of Beijing. Somewhere along the route, most likely recently, we elevated to FL360. OAT at this altitude: -43C/-45.4F. We've had a couple of pockets of turbulence along the way, nothing too bad, until a recent fairly violent shaking of the craft over Russia at FL340. I surmise that we climbed to get out of that bad air.
 |
| Rosie napping |
Dozed off and before I knew it, Rosie was waking me up to let me know that our 'lite' meal was starting to be served. It was in fact 2hrs before touchdown and as we were warned, food was coming out. It was hot and delicious: Stir fry beef, rice and some young bok choi; a fruit plate; hot roll/butter; salad w/smoked salmon and Ranch dressing, and; some pickled veggies that I love! Both of us have been impressed with Air China's inflight meals both the options, quantity and, taste!
 |
| My 'lite' meal |
Still very bright outside and Rosie took a picture of the earth out the port side and based on where we were on our flight track it may well have been a view to North Korea. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed in Beijing at 1738 local time. Temperature, a balmy 83F. The official name of China's premier airport: Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA).
Deplaning was easy - just follow the signs to 'Transfers'. Unfortunately, the signage in Beijing airport - not very good, at least for someone from the U.S. We took a couple of miss-turns and ended up having some airport folks guide us to a queue. I'm sure there's process information written all over the place in Chinese... we just can't read it. Remember, we'd already been screened and cleared in SFO. There were 2 people sitting at this particular queue covering to separate entry point into the Transfers area. They did nothing more than to look at your boarding pass, you vs your passport photo and, to ensure your face wasn't a raging inferno of heat - signs of illness. They will pull you aside and put you in quarantine!
Check!
 |
| View to the 747-8 that delivered us to Beijing |
Next, you walk a bit and queue up again. This time you're processed through a security screening similar to other airports where you have to: take off any hats; empty all pockets; take out cameras and lenses; iPads; iPods; iPhones; liquids; powered chargers; wallets; belts; hand over your boarding pass and passport - then you're allowed to walk through the x-ray machine with your shoes ON - so we had that going for us!! :-) Every country is different. Oh, and there are lots of other people doing the same thing in a very small, confined space. Rosie had to go back through twice because she forgot that she'd 'bogarted' both of our Air China toiletry kits in her roll-on and they flagged for tiny little aerosol spray cans... that's unfair, they were actual 'give aways' from the Airline.
Check!
 |
| We are really here! |
Side note: I was surprised we went through another screening process. Maybe I shouldn't have been? We'd already been examined in San Francisco and passed into the control of Air China. Landing in Beijing, that 'chain of custody,' if you will, hadn't been broken. We were just in Beijing on a layover, not permitted to leave the terminal (we possessed no China VISA), as we waited for the continuation of our Air China flight to Sydney. Just whinging a bit.
Finally through, we went in search of the hotel located in this International Transfer Terminal that offered up rooms on an hourly basis for Travelers wanting to freshen up. Found it by gate E-10. Rosie had researched it's existence before we left New Jersey. Walked into the lobby entrance and after dodging a young lady pushing massages, we took the elevator up to the 3rd level and was greeted by another young lady that explained how the hotel worked and our options. Turns out the 1hr hotel only rents out in 2hr blocks so it's actually a 2hr, 1hr hotel! Didn't haggle just picked the cheapest option, the 3rd one listed, that came with a private shower/bath and head. 480Yuan later (~6.5Yuan/US dollar), we had our room, 3316, air conditioned and quiet. Both Rosie and I chose to bathe instead of shower (felt like we needed a good soaking). The rooms bath tub was long and deep. Rosie remembered to bring a change of clothing, I had not so, hair dried my slightly perspiration laden garments before re-donning them (my nose wasn't offended by my own clothing). Didn't matter, felt so much better for getting cleaned up! The room had all the basics anyone on long duration travel would need: a desk, some chairs, bathrobes, 2 beds, disposable slippers, full bathroom.
 |
| Standing at the front desk, looking left towards the rooms of the 2hr, 1hr Hotel |
Side Note: Something I'd forgotten from my trip years back: Every hotel room I remember staying in had a bathroom that was not completely private. For some reason whomever designed and built bathrooms in China, must have enjoyed building bathrooms with a view... you could see out through a pane of glass (of varying sizes and styles) and anyone else in the room could see you in the loo! Odd but, you get used to it.
 |
| 2 twins in our hotel room in Beijing Capital Internation Airport |
 |
| Right behind Rosie you can see the window view into the bathroom, lit up |
Only ended up staying for 1 hr in the 2hr minimum, 1hr hotel, before exiting to do some shopping for proof we had actually been in Beijing airport. Once that chore done, headed out to find and relax in the Air China Business First lounge which, by the way, is sprawling and 1 level up from the main concourse thoroughfares! We'd purchased some t-shirts (1 for me, Rosie and Ben) in one of the many shops in this area. I changed into mine to get out of the one I was wearing - feel much cleaner now. Made our way over to near Gate E-19 and found the lounge. 'Vatored up to the entrance where we were warmly greeted. The place had a lot of Travelers but, was no where near full or crowded at this time of night. The food offerings were great and there was plenty of cold and hot beverages sprinkled around the lounge area. We found a available corner with chairs and a table to made ourselves comfortable.
 |
| Just a small sample of the sustenance in the AC lounge: dumplings, pickled cucs, asparagus soup |
It's 2140 here in Beijing now and our flight takes off at approximately 0100, Saturday, 9/9. My next blog will be all about leg 3 to Sydney in a new day! Shutting down for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment