This will be a multi part travelogue. I'll cover our trip from October 12 to November 3rd and the sights and experiences we encountered as well as some commentary on travelling in China. I realize there have been a bunch of politically charged things going on with China but I am going to leave that alone, and just focus on the great trip we experienced.
We had planned this trip for several months. Qiuyan is a fairly recent immigrant from China having been here in the US only around 10 years or so. She had not been back home in over 6 years so it was going to be a homecoming for her as well as a touristy/meet the family trip for me. Knowing we wanted to be gone for 3 weeks I had to get that cleared with my boss before I made any serious plans. It ended up not being a problem. I was rather fortunate in April of this year, that the Kansas City Chinese American Association was hosting a visa event at our church. So it was super convenient to get the visa handled. That and I got the 10 year visa so I can travel there anytime I like the next ten years. Since I had points through American Express I used American Express Travel to book the flights. The process is pretty simple and easily handled online without assistance from an agent.
The plan was to fly to Beijing spend a couple days there then take the high speed train to Qiuyan's hometown of Siping, in Jilin Province. About 2 months out I booked the hotel through Orbitz https://www.orbitz.com/ . I have used them through the years and have always been pleased with the price I have paid. With help from Qiuyan's daughter (who works in the travel industry in China) we found a hotel close to the Beijing Train Station. Close in that it was right across the street. Very convenient as it turned out. Train tickets are available for purchase 30 days from the travel date. After looking online I decided to use Travel China Guide to arrange my tickets. They are used by TripAdvisor as well so I was confident that the service was going to be good. Pretty easy low tech affair, but it was simple and they sent me multiple email notifications during the ticket buying process as well as offering a service to deliver the tickets to our hotel. I took advantage of this just because I did not want to have to worry about things as we were getting ready to travel again. I wanted to know I had everything lined up.
The plan was to fly to Beijing spend a couple days there then take the high speed train to Qiuyan's hometown of Siping, in Jilin Province. About 2 months out I booked the hotel through Orbitz https://www.orbitz.com/ . I have used them through the years and have always been pleased with the price I have paid. With help from Qiuyan's daughter (who works in the travel industry in China) we found a hotel close to the Beijing Train Station. Close in that it was right across the street. Very convenient as it turned out. Train tickets are available for purchase 30 days from the travel date. After looking online I decided to use Travel China Guide to arrange my tickets. They are used by TripAdvisor as well so I was confident that the service was going to be good. Pretty easy low tech affair, but it was simple and they sent me multiple email notifications during the ticket buying process as well as offering a service to deliver the tickets to our hotel. I took advantage of this just because I did not want to have to worry about things as we were getting ready to travel again. I wanted to know I had everything lined up.
A week or so later I booked some tours in Beijing. Since we were only staying a couple days I wanted to cram in as much as possible without being stupid about it. I planned a night tour of the city lights the day we arrived, then a two day tour to see some of the sights in the area. I booked these through Travel China Guide, and again I was very happy with the service. Here is a link to their website for those of you that may be interested https://www.travelchinaguide.com/
The morning of October 12 came, Travel Day!. I was pretty stoked and had no problem getting going in the morning. We took the short drive to the Kansas City International area, to one of the local hotels. I had looked up lower parking rates, and found that many of the hotels in the area rent out parking spaces at a much reduced rate. Mine was almost half the cost of the airport. A significant savings for the length of trip we were taking. The hotel shuttle dropped us off at the terminal and in we went. We were leaving early so it was painless getting checked in and through security. I had picked American Airlines due to the price and the fact I could get a "one day" flight to Beijing. Originally we were to fly KC-PHX-LAX-Beijing. About 45 days prior to the day we were advised our trip had been changed to KC-DFW-Beijing., then returning through LAX-DFW-KC. This was no problem and we were actually arriving in Beijing an hour earlier., or so we thought.The flight to DFW was delayed a little due to a mechanical problem but we got to DFW in plenty of time to get on the next flight. We were ready to leave DFW early when we were called back to the gate, somebody forgot to service the toilets! Well, 45 minutes to an hour later we were finally on our way. We were flying in the Dreamliner, which was pretty comfortable considering we were in economy and I am 6'-3" tall and around 230 pounds. I was mostly comfortable during the flight, and there was ample space to hang out in the galley area. Probably should have taken advantage of that more than I did. They had a good slate of movies so I was entertained during the 15 hour flight. They were not able to make up time so we arrived in Beijing about an hour late. Upon arrival in Beijing, customs is fairly straight forward and simple. You get a form on the plane to fill out, you go to a kiosk to have your finger prints scanned, then go wait in line to be processed through. I was lucky here. Since Qiuyan is still a citizen I was able to go with her in the citizens line, and we got through much quicker. I was photographed and re-scanned for fingerprints at that station. I was given a stub for my return which was tucked neatly into my passport, and away we went. Originally, I was going to have a private driver pick us up at the airport but Qiuyan insisted on taking the shuttle bus to the train station. Since the station was across the street from the hotel it was super convenient, even though I was pretty loaded down. Savings was probably 60 yuan for the both of us when you figure tips.
Earlier I mentioned I had booked a tour of city lights for this evening. Well since the flight was late we were in the middle of Beijing rush hour traffic. Yeah it is as ugly as it sounds (more on Beijing traffic next time). So our guide was waiting in the lobby for us when we arrived. He was a nice guy, understanding and all, and waited for us to check in and off load in the room. Again, this was a tour booked through TravelChinaGuide.com. Our guides English name was Kevin, which was an auspicious start. Unfortunately that was the only thing good about the tour. Don't get me wrong, the guide was great. The tour itself was just not that good. We started out at Tiananmen Square. It was really pretty and still decked out for the 70th Anniversary of the government. Here we hit the first big snag. You are seated in the back of a car, and there is really no opportunity for stopping to get out and take pictures. So my iphone pics are a bit sketchy, sorry but it was the best I could do.
The two above are decorations from the anniversary celebrations.
Then we proceeded to the Performing Arts Center which is beautiful.
The morning of October 12 came, Travel Day!. I was pretty stoked and had no problem getting going in the morning. We took the short drive to the Kansas City International area, to one of the local hotels. I had looked up lower parking rates, and found that many of the hotels in the area rent out parking spaces at a much reduced rate. Mine was almost half the cost of the airport. A significant savings for the length of trip we were taking. The hotel shuttle dropped us off at the terminal and in we went. We were leaving early so it was painless getting checked in and through security. I had picked American Airlines due to the price and the fact I could get a "one day" flight to Beijing. Originally we were to fly KC-PHX-LAX-Beijing. About 45 days prior to the day we were advised our trip had been changed to KC-DFW-Beijing., then returning through LAX-DFW-KC. This was no problem and we were actually arriving in Beijing an hour earlier., or so we thought.The flight to DFW was delayed a little due to a mechanical problem but we got to DFW in plenty of time to get on the next flight. We were ready to leave DFW early when we were called back to the gate, somebody forgot to service the toilets! Well, 45 minutes to an hour later we were finally on our way. We were flying in the Dreamliner, which was pretty comfortable considering we were in economy and I am 6'-3" tall and around 230 pounds. I was mostly comfortable during the flight, and there was ample space to hang out in the galley area. Probably should have taken advantage of that more than I did. They had a good slate of movies so I was entertained during the 15 hour flight. They were not able to make up time so we arrived in Beijing about an hour late. Upon arrival in Beijing, customs is fairly straight forward and simple. You get a form on the plane to fill out, you go to a kiosk to have your finger prints scanned, then go wait in line to be processed through. I was lucky here. Since Qiuyan is still a citizen I was able to go with her in the citizens line, and we got through much quicker. I was photographed and re-scanned for fingerprints at that station. I was given a stub for my return which was tucked neatly into my passport, and away we went. Originally, I was going to have a private driver pick us up at the airport but Qiuyan insisted on taking the shuttle bus to the train station. Since the station was across the street from the hotel it was super convenient, even though I was pretty loaded down. Savings was probably 60 yuan for the both of us when you figure tips.
Earlier I mentioned I had booked a tour of city lights for this evening. Well since the flight was late we were in the middle of Beijing rush hour traffic. Yeah it is as ugly as it sounds (more on Beijing traffic next time). So our guide was waiting in the lobby for us when we arrived. He was a nice guy, understanding and all, and waited for us to check in and off load in the room. Again, this was a tour booked through TravelChinaGuide.com. Our guides English name was Kevin, which was an auspicious start. Unfortunately that was the only thing good about the tour. Don't get me wrong, the guide was great. The tour itself was just not that good. We started out at Tiananmen Square. It was really pretty and still decked out for the 70th Anniversary of the government. Here we hit the first big snag. You are seated in the back of a car, and there is really no opportunity for stopping to get out and take pictures. So my iphone pics are a bit sketchy, sorry but it was the best I could do.
The two above are decorations from the anniversary celebrations.
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| Monument to the Peoples Heroes |
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| Zhengyang Gate |
,.
Sadly the rest was mostly anti-climactic. The corner tower of the Forbidden city, as well as the Drum and Bell towers and the CCTV building were not lit that night. We did get a glimpse of the Bird Nest and Water Cube, but nothing to really photograph. The tour itself was $186 usd and really not worth it. Even if things had been lit up, being relegated to the back seat of the car kills it. Our guide Kevin was great, knowledgeable and friendly, sadly the tour did not live up to expectations. There was an option to sample the night life but since we were tired and Qiuyan doesn't drink (like all good Chinese women), I opted to pass and go back to the hotel. I forgot to mention our hotel earlier, the Howard Johnson Paragon Hotel Beijing. This is not your average Hojo's. Truly a 4 star hotel with great amenities and beautiful rooms. Here is the link, take a look! https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/hojo/beijing-china/howard-johnson-paragon-hotel-beijing/overview
Highly recommended, and as I mentioned earlier, directly across the street from the main Beijing train station. It is also adjacent to the subway, and within walking distance to Tiananmen Square, Ming Wall Park, and several other attractions. That ended up being quite a bit so I'll stop there. The next post will feature the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Beijing Hutongs, and some Pandas...no not Kung Fu Panda either....
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