Beijing Day1

(New Terminal 3 at Beijing)

I awake from poor nights sleep. Its been Typhoon wind 3 in Hong Kong and Julian, who is flying in from Brisbane has been rerouted to the Phillipines. The previous day I had been caught out in the heavy rains, and was totally soaked through to the skin.

Julian won't be able to make the flight from HK to Beijing, as we had planned, but hopefully we will meet up when we get there.

Its warm in HK, BBC weather says the weather is around 22C in Beijing, so I pack thin clothes, a decision which proves to be a bad one!

With my backpack packed, this time including my Laptop, but excluding my SLR, I leave with some trepidation for the week ahead.

Its a quick journey out to the airport, and I make sure I make a trip to Burger King for a double cheese burger with bacon...yummy yummy.

The flight is slightly delayed, but the time goes by easily as I have access to Wifi in the terminal.

The flight is uneventful except for a call to all passengers looking for Julian, and asking for him to make his way to the groundstaff. I tell the pretty stewardess that he hasnt made his connection...hopefully that helped us along our way.



Beijing.
I arrive in cloud and rain. I see nothing but grey mist out the window til the moment we land, where there are some glimpses of green forest and spartan looking buildings.

I am lucky enough to see the new Terminal 3. Its Norman Foster design and feels like the sister of HK International Airport, which was also from his firm. Inside, its the familiar high ceiling warehouse feel, tall tree like columns hold it all up, but the roof structure is different, with many slats below lights, so at angles it seems as if the roof is sparkling with bright stars.

One thing that is does do is give you a feeling of grand size. It does impress.

Another difference to HKIA is the lack of shops in comparison. Its definately the new modern China, everything is spick and span.

The shuttle train between the terminal at main terminal did an emergency stop and half the people fell over....hmmm.... then the doors wouldnt open. Good thing I have low expectations of this trip.

Outside I prepare myself for the taxi ride into town. Above the rain is pounding down and through cracks in the over pass the water is falling through, not sure that is supposed to happen.

On the concourse next to the taxi stand are 20 miserable looking blokes squatting on the ground with a bunch of police standing around them...right...

The Taxi ride was good if not slow. I had printed out the chinese for the Hotel, so it was easy for him to know where it was. He even used the meter! Bonus.

The traffic was bad, starting nearly straight away and all the way into town , some 1hr. So from door to door it was around 2.5hrs from landing to hotel room.

It was interesting to see the types of cars driven. Quite a few new German cars, and lots of SUV and 4X4 types of all makes and models. Most cars looked less than 10yrs old, and well kept.

I am staying at Raffles Beijing Hotel. The first time I have gone fancy. Its a big change from Hostels, Budget Chain Hotels and 3 stars....wow. The room is amazing, its like a 2 bedroom size, with massive bathroom, complete with everything. The living room sports a coffee table and two soft sofas, perfect to watch the twin 40 in LCD TVs...Wooden floors and tasteful decor including modern and traditional chinese peices and artwork. I'm using the complimentary cable internet on a fancy wooden table. my feet resting on fine rug. I could get used to this!