Post #18 - October 29, 2012 - Beijing, China

Good morning in Canada, it's Patty writing from our super nice guesthouse in Beijing China at around 11:22pm local time.

I still can't believe we're in China. I never thought I would get the chance to go to China and here we are, unscathed after our creepy night in a former mental institution turned hostel and long day of travelling. 

A funny note about our flight was the announcements regarding turbulence  Every time we encountered some, a recording of a guy with a deep voice and an English accent came on saying "We are experiencing turbulence. Please return to your seats as soon as possible. Those passengers in the toilets, please hold onto the railings"... We had a good chuckle every time that came on.

We arrived in Beijing at around 9pm local time. We whizzed through several different customs desks prior to arrival but entered the country with no issues. It's pretty cool to see all the work and planning for this trip finally being realized - preparing the Visa applications, booking the hostel and flight in and out of China, Mr. and Mrs. Valdivia, and Jeff's bro Chris kindly driving us around the city of Ottawa all in order to get our Visas to see this country. And, after it all, here we are. It's surreal and very cool!

Japan was exciting in its own unique way but we never felt too far away from our western comforts. But, here... wow it already feels soooo foreign. Many of the customs people were dressed in olive green military uniforms that looked like they dated back to the 40's, some others at the airport were dressed in long black trenchcoats and military boots directing people to taxis. It already has such a different feel than Japan and it's much colder (+10)... Can't wait to learn more about this country.

So after waiting 15 mins for our luggage at the location we were directed too, we got sent off to a separate location in the airport reserved for international pick ups. So we, and around 8 others muddled our way there and collected our luggage. Jeff and I joked about secretly hoping our luggage was lost so that we could use our luggage insurance claim to buy some decent new clothes (we're already getting disgusted with our selections)! 

Anyways, once we finally picked up our luggage, and after several rejections, we finally found one very nice taxi driver, who took the time to understand where we needed to go and got us there at a fair price. We walked through some very dark creepy alleys before finally getting to our dear hostel which as I mentioned is awesome. It's over a hundred years old. It was the top choice according to Lonely Planet and is called "Sitting on the Walls Courtyard" for a reason. Once you get in, the room is solely lit by red paper lanterns hanging all around a roofed courtyard with red painted doors and window trims surrounding the entire space of the courtyard. Each door leads to a different set of bedrooms. There's a pretty fountain in the center of the room surrounded by sofas, coffee tables, and various dark brown wooden tables and chairs. Each table has its own pretty lantern or lamp that look like an antique. Our bedroom is on the second floor and we actually have a bit of privacy. The bedrooms are quaint but cozy. There are 2 twin beds each with crisp, clean white sheets and a doorway that leads to another room with the same set up. It'll be a solid get-up for our 6-night stay here at this hostel - the longest we have been in one place since starting this trip. Here's a somewhat fuzzy pic of the courtyard:

No plans yet for the morrow except meeting up with Jeff's former co-worker/friend Dale who is working and living here in Beijing. We should bring our notepads and take some notes on how to travel through China. This guy Dale, is as seasoned a traveler as they come. He's been everywhere.... and I mean everywhere. I can't list all the places, but Jeff will share more about him tomorrow. All I know is he speaks many different languages including Arabic and he's a white dude from Thompson, Manitoba. He sounds like a great guy, and a very interesting fellow.

Have a great day back at home.

Patty

Quote of the day:
Following my suggestion to try scuba diving at least once and suggesting Jeff was too scared to, he responded in a snappy tone:

"Well I'm also scared of putting my head in a lion's mouth, that doesn't mean it's a good idea."
~ Deep analogies by Jeff Valdivia