1 October

Ah well, dear reader, how things can change!
Knowing I had to be up early, I had gone to sleep and was well and truly in the arms of Morpheus by 2100. Then my slumbers were rudely interrupted by the telephone ringing at 2300. “Yes?” I groggily answered, only to have an incomprehensible comment made from the other end. “Did you want to arrange a wake-up call?” I innocently asked, only to have a husky female voice ask if I wanted female companionship for the night (and that’s the way I’ll phrase it). “No!” I emphatically answered and thrust the receiver down. So back to sleep I tried to go.
Now on the way back to the hotel the night before I had been feeling thirsty and had consumed a medium bottle of coke. Being half-awake was the pits, as now I had to get up again to answer (but not the telephone this time). The mattress didn’t help, as I have slept on softer floors. Finally at 0430 I was up.
After a shower and packing, I went down to the restaurant to see if I could convince them to let me have an early breakfast (as the reception staff wouldn’t let me change days yesterday). No luck at all, so after the Internet not working (and being charged to use the Business Centre computer), I cannot recommend the Hotel Primoriye in Vladivostok at all.
The agent, on the other had, I can recommend fully. The driver turned up at 0530 on the dot and we were at the airport just before 0630 and, before I knew it, he had taken my bag in, shown me where to sit and then enter, and left. I weighed my suitcase on the scales outside and found it was 23 kg (which I couldn’t understand as for every other flight, same configuration, it was 20 kg. When I went in, after clearing customs, the scales on the airport said my case was 20 kg! Go figure – I can’t.
When I went through emigration, I thought my paperwork must have been wrong. The young control officer looked at my documents, punched a few keys, made a few frantic calls and I thought the security guards were all coming my way. I found out after that someone had not switched the central computer on, so every time he typed anything, there was no response.
While waiting I found myself in the area with, you guessed it, a school excursion! Fortunately all went well, but can’t I ever escape them? We went out to board our plane at 0800, a Tupelov 154. We left the terminal area on time, but I have no idea of how far away the runway was, but we took ten minutes to reach it. We then had the shortest and fastest take-off I have ever had, beating any Boeing or AirBus hands down. We weren’t long in the air before the meals came around and I got my allergy card out, but before I could say anything, I was given the choice of fish, chicken or beef. Believe it or not, the meal was the best airline meal I have ever had – all well presented and edible.
After a brief nap (once over China I couldn’t see anything on the ground) I was woken up to get ready to land. Again we landed and then had a long wait until we were at the terminal. For once, someone used some nouse and had all the school children exit the plane first. Today I was the last off.
In the terminal there were pictures, murals and statues. It actually looked pleasant entering it. However, the air outside looked, well, hazy? But with a quick trip down the moving walkways (which worked well) we arrived at immigration control and, in a few moments, I was through. Then it was wait time for claiming my bag – the luggage had been manually loaded at Vladivostok and so had to be manually unloaded. It came along, while I was reading that I should check my laggage label carefully to make sure I didn’t get the wrong laggage. Twice I had a solicitous (meaning caring, not the other one) assistant come over, worried abut my welfare. She brought a trolley and almost refused to leave me, until I told her my suitcase had wheels. Then when it came out and I put my backpack on, she helped with that and told me it was hot outside (but where else could ‘I keep my jacket but wear it?)
I trundled along with everything and went through the “Nothing to Declare” aisle and continued out. Immediately I saw my name, called out to the fellow (Eugene) and he followed me to the end of the arrivals exit. Now at this stage I really should look in the mirror because he immediately grabbed my suitcase and tried to help with the backpack – am I looking infirm? We went out and into the car-park and only waited a second until a car and driver rolled up. Everything in the boot (except me) and we were off. It was a relatively quick trip into Beijing (although having never been here before, perhaps I can’t comment), apparently because this is the first day of at least five days of public holidays – a great thing to find out that I am sharing the city with a whole load of holiday-makers from the countryside as well as overseas.
We finally drove our way to the hotel. It is in an area where all original one-storey buildings are and cannot be altered outside. It’s very scenic (and more will follow), but the road is a small alley, more suited to pedestrians and bicycles. The luggage was unloaded, this time with assistance from a porter at the hotel, who looked old and wizened, but toted the load like it was nothing. I checked in, but because of the time (three hours time difference from Vladivostok, so 0900 when I arrived at the hotel) my room wasn’t ready. Leaving my jacket, backpack and suitcase (but taking my laptop with me in its little backpack), my guide (Eugene) and I set off. The first problem – the alley is too small to be on maps, so it’s not on any easily available piece of paper. I memorised the last little alley entrance and we walked south. We tried another map, but it too didn’t show the alley (and it was all in Chinese) so I will have to rely on the GPs or my memory.
Eugene left me at a point where I could walk down to Tiananmen Square so I headed off. After three intersections, confusion! So many people wanted to get there that the police had stopped pedestrians walking in, so I could go no further (I tried a few different ways with no luck). I wandered back and called in to that fine Scottish restaurant chain for a quick meal before intending to check into my hotel room. Outside the CITS building I fell into conversation with two young Chinese ladies who are art students, but also wanting to practice English. They convinced me to accompany them to their art exhibition – and showing me the shopping street (a mall which had never been open for general use by cars) along the way. At the exhibition, by the students and their teacher, some of the paintings were so good that I bought them – and then found they were by those students. After that we had a trip to the post office to send them home (and they will be on the slow boat from China, not to it) and then I headed back t the hotel.
Once I had found the alley, all was good. The people in the street all waved or nodded back, and some even said, “Good day” or “hello” – but the most extraordinary sight was an elderly gentleman doing his shoelace up – he was bent at the waist and his eyes were at his shoelaces! He evidently doesn’t suffer from arthritis!
Back at the hotel my room was ready so I set up the computer (and set out my half-dry washing to dry), uploaded all my photos and my blogs, checked my mail and then had a look around. I got no further than having a chat with a German girl, here for a few days with her boyfriend, who have already seen the Great Wall. We compared notes on travelling as I realised my legs are aching from climbing up Vladivostok hills yesterday, then I returned to work on this blog and decided a little walk might be in order.
When I went out, again I was amazed at the friendliness of most people. Only one person scowled (out of a thousand or so) and most smiled back – a few said “Hello” in English, which may have been the only English they knew. One engaged me in conversation for a few minutes, asking how I had found China, how long I was staying and what I was seeing. I came back to the hotel, did some more writing up, chatted to the German couple (the boy was out now), then did some emailing and went to bed early so I could get to Tiananmen Square before the throng tomorrow.