WE ARE BLOCKED FROM ACCESSING THE BLOG SITE AND ARE UNABLE TO POST ENTRIES OURSELVES. WE’VE ASKED LINDA, RICH”S WIFE, TO POST THEM. THANK YOU LINDA AND THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING PATIENT.
Smooth arrival in Beijing, but we can’t say the same about luggage. The saga began in Toronto when our luggage did not show up at the baggage claim for customs inspection. Air Canada personnel told us our luggage went directly to the Vancouver plane bypassing customs and we should get to the gate quickly. Our luggage was routed all the way to Beijing from Philadelphia, but when we arrived in Vancouver we checked the baggage claim just to be sure our bags weren’t there before heading to the hotel for a shower and some sleep. It’s now 2:00am.
Later this morning, after a continental breakfast at the hotel, we left for the airport to catch the 12:30 pm flight to Beijing, arriving at 2:30 pm on June 1st. The flight was uneventful, but standing at the baggage claim in Beijing watching one suitcase after another go by, our hearts started sinking as none of them were ours.
The Air Canada baggage inquiry office was helpful, and discovered that our three pieces were actually on a direct flight from Toronto with an arrival time of 4:00pm. Go figure. They expected to deliver the luggage to our hotel around 7:00pm. Well, as you can probably guess, it did not arrive at 7 …or 8 …or 9, but at 12:30 am on June 2nd when Rich went to check at the front desk of the Beijing Haige International Hotel where we are staying for one night. According to the airport personnel, the delivery schedule backed up because there were so many pieces of lost luggage that afternoon.
While our luggage was in transit, we went to exchange US currency for Yuan (Chinese money) and then walked to a nearby shopping area that included a Wal-Mart Super Center complete with a picture of Sam Walton in the vestibule. It was Sunday night and this Wal-Mart was packed with lines of customers waiting to checkout. Not much different from the States. We initially skipped walking through the store since getting something to eat was foremost on our minds.
Leaving the shopping center, we passed a Dairy Queen and headed to KFC for chicken, a spicy chicken burger and a chicken burrito with drinks and sides for the princely sum of 67 yuan (less than $10 USD). The personnel helped us navigate the menu using their good command of the English language.
Although extreme fatigue was setting in, we needed to push through it, so a return visit to Wal-Mart kept us awake. The shelves displayed some familiar items, but it was strange to see wine in the same aisle as the baby formula. We came upon a tasting bar that was sampling “Great Wall” brand wine. We didn’t particularly care for their “dry red” wine, but couldn’t resist purchasing a bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon.
Walking through the seafood area of Wal-Mart we noticed a tank of live turtles with a woman standing guard. Eels, catfish, clams, and mussels were in water tanks reminiscent of a pet store. Many other food products looked so different that we couldn’t figure out what they were, much less what they might taste like. However, the cookies and sweets section abounded, with brisk sales. Rich and I agreed it won’t be long until the slender physiques of the Chinese will disappear. We found Magnum bars in the ice cream section, so there goes our slender physiques as well.
We decided to go down to another level of Wal-Mart and what an experience! Three long sloping people movers, two up and one down, filled with shoppers and their shopping carts carried us between levels. Bins located between the moving handrails of the ramps contained small products like batteries, stockings, candy, plum crystals (sugar), and vitamins, just to name a few, that you could grab as you glided along. This is definitely an innovative approach to impulse buying. Garry had been looking for AAA batteries since Philadelphia and plucked a pack while in transit. At the bottom of the moving ramp, we saw a black gloved a Wal-Mart greeter complete with a sash across her shoulder, and later noticed another greeter positioned at the top of one moving ramp helping to pull off shopping carts and guide people from the ramps.
Checkout lines had dwindled by the time we reached them, however, we were still delayed. China outlawed use of plastic bags effective June 1 and people had to purchase reusable shopping bags as a way to help clean up the environment.
Our flight to Kunming leaves tomorrow at 7:45pm; however, a full day of sightseeing is scheduled before we leave.
Tired and heading to bed,
Tamara, Garry and Rich
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