Calm Spirit/Ying Yu Jade China Trip 2006
Day One and Two-Getting There
Northwest
Airlines this time. NW doesn't offer direct flights and they all go through Tokyo
which adds a couple hours to flying time, United flies direct to China. We wanted
to fly to Beijing, then take a domestic flight to Guangzhou and return to the
US from Guangzhou, and NW is the only airline that flies out of Guangzhou, so
NW was our choice.
I wanted to leave right after the Chinese May week
long holiday, and started making reservations with flychina.com in February, but
Fly China could not get a decent itinerary for us. They either scheduled the flights
too close together, or had a 10 hour layover between the international flight
and the last leg to Orlando. By the time I gave up on Fly China and contacted
Andi Yu at Chinasmith, the soonest we could leave with May 23, when the weather
in Beijing and Guangzhou is not as pleasant, Andi worked out a really good schedule
for us. The flychina.com web site has much helpful traveling information,including
the China domestic railway schedule and a link to a flight guru which shows the
seating plan of all the airlines planes and rates the quality of the seats.
Orlando
is a really good airport because it caters to families who travel to Disney and
the resorts, so the security checks move quickly and the hassling of passengers
is minimal. But if you get to the airport early and plan to eat, do so before
you go through security as the food selection leaves a lot to be desired after
going through security.
The Detroit airport was remodeled and is very nice
now. There's a good selection of food and interesting shopping. The duty free
store is close to the passenger gates, and restrooms are also close together.
There's
wireless internet access but it's expensive.
The Tokyo airport has a variety
of wireless internet access. I paid with my credit card to get 24 hours of access
for $3.75, and it was easy to connect and fast. The Tokyo airport has expanded
their food and shopping since my last layover there in 2002, so a couple of hours
layover goes by fast.
The flight from Detroit to Tokyo was really turbulent,
but not as turbulent as from Tokyo to Beijing. I never saw so many people using
the "barf bags".
NW did a good job handling our luggage which was
on the conveyer by the time we cleared the Chinese visa inspection. We reserved
a car to take us to the hotel, $31 well spent to see the driver holding a card
with our name on after the long flight and not have to deal with the unpredictability
of the Beijing taxi service if the driver doesn't use the meter.
I booked
our hotels through sinohotel.com which I have used for all my hotel reservations
in China. You can get very discounted prices on 3-5 star hotels. The regular room
rate of the Prime Hotel is $331 and my price was $115. You can secure your room
with your credit card or just show up and say you have a reservation with the
confirmation you print out. Sinohotel.com also offers limo service from some China
city airports for a reasonable price. And you can reserve tours with them. Tom
needed a tour for one day when I would be doing something else, and he went to
the Simitai Great Wall with a group on a bus. If want to customize your activities
in China, this is a good way to go only on the tours you want
.
There are
some natural/homeopathic remedies for travelers, including Air Borne to keep from
getting sick from viruses on the plane. Some travelers like to take melatonin
for jet lag but I haven't found it to be effective. This time I tried No Jet Lag
which seemed to work very well for me. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my ginger
candy for nausea and acidophillous for intestinal balance, but I always carry
a tin of Altoids Ginger mints which helped the nausea during the turbulence. I
later bought some Chinese medicine for the stomach distress of flying and bad
food, which worked fast and no side effects.
Suggestions to consider:
Check
out the duty free store for cosmetics. Estee and Clinique offer really nice travel
combinations and this time I got a flattering shade of cheek color combined with
two lip colors, two eyeshadows and little brushes for $22. These aren't sold in
department stores, are special for the duty free.
Take healthy food for the
trip, and double it. Airplane food isn't very good, if it's even available and
contains a lot of salt that might cause leg swelling. I mix two big bags of shredded
wheat squares, pretzels, raisins, almonds and chocolate chips which are a good
snack, can substitute for a breakfast when you don't eat in the hotel and can't
find out where the Chinese get their breakfast foods, and give you something to
eat when there just isn't anything edible.
Take an inflatable neck pillow that
folds up flat and doesn't take space. You'll be glad you have it when you sleep
on the plane so you're head doesn't fall down and wake you up.
And if you fly
Northwest, coach, don't expect anything extra if you can't eat their low quality
food. While the attendants can snack on yogurt, you can't get some. I looked at
some of the "special meals for dietary restrictions" and don't count
on them being edible, either.
Next: Beijing, Kung Fu, Tai Chi and more
