Cathay 2019 - Part 1 Flights and Currency Exchange

We left Sacramento on an early Southwest Airlines flight to Los Angeles Airport. Smooth start, even with less than 6 hours of sleep. We were ready and excited to travel to China. The flight on Southwest Airlines was fantastic. We got great seats in the exit row and the flight attendant gave us 5 star service, pretzels and drinks and extra bags of pretzels.

Southwest Airline flight attendant Ellen, is based in Dallas, Texas

We landed at LAX Terminal 1 and walked to the international terminal to board Air China. Good thing that we did because for the first time we actually walked very close to the LAX landmark Theme Building, a Space Age structure that we’ve seen in movies since the 70s. It still looks nice but no longer looks like the future. Still don’t know what’s in there.  

Theme Building at LAX

Once inside the newish Tom Bradley International Terminal, we went to the money exchange booth and exchanged all of our US dollars for Chinese currency, the yuan. We usually don’t carry cash but we had $190 dollars between us and I wanted it all in yuan. The man behind the glass said something through the thick window and counted 1,025 yuan and gave me back few a few US coins. I went back to where we were sitting and showed the new currency to my husband and started to divide the money between us. My husband kept saying to me there should be 7 100 yuan notes. I counted the bills again and said there are ten 100 yuan, one 20 yuan and one 5 yuan. I get to keep more since I was the one that would be doing all the shopping for us. Then I gave him two 100 yuan bills. I had no idea why he kept saying 7. Turns out he was trying to do the currency exchange math in his head, and completely failing. Time for more coffee.

Same plane that landed from Beijing.  

Boeing 777-300ER

We boarded an Air China 777 and our seats were exactly what we selected, middle and aisle seats. After we took off I had a hard time using the console for movies since the screen’s touch controls were worn from other passengers over the years. So I had to use the buttons on the armrest. Two hours into our flight my husband said we are flying over Alaska. I told my husband I miss Singapore Airlines and their super friendly flight attendants. 

Flying over Alaska

Eight hours later flying over Russia

When drinks were being served, I asked if I could have a glass of white wine. The Air China flight attendant said it will be served with the meal. So, I settled for water. I leaned over and whispered in my husband’s ear how much I miss Singapore Airline for the second time. He whispered back that we have to experience other airlines so I can write about the experience. I told my husband I miss the big Singapore Airbus A380. Then my husband went on talking about the Boeing 777-300ER we were in, how it has the best fuel efficiency and how it can fly long range around the world. He continued with his plane talk and I could only see his mouth moving, not understanding one word. Too bad the Beijing Airport doesn’t have a “fuel efficiency” plane-pool fast lane during rush hour (that story will be explained on my last part of China).

When we landed in Beijing I was tired and excited at the same time. The Beijing airport is big, new, very efficient and easy to navigate from the gate to the immigration and baggage claim. The airport appears to be able to handle more than 20 international planes arriving at the same time. There were many counters and machines for fingerprints to enter the country, the assistants all speak English and other languages. The line for visitors to China was long but it took us less than 20 minutes for face pictures, finger prints, visa check, stamping of passports, then we were welcomed into China. The dreadful 2 days of waiting to get a Chinese Visa at the San Francisco Consulate back in February is starting to fade away. 

After we got our super light and small bags (compared to everyone else’s) we exited the airport baggage claim area and entered the airport lobby. I could not believe how nice and modern it looked. I spotted a Starbucks right away on my right where there was a long line. We found our tour guide Andy from Gate 1 Travel and he checked our names and asked us to wait for the rest of the group to come out from the immigration and baggage claim.  

I looked around and was ready to use my yuan. I went into a store and bought two bottles of water for 12 yuan (about $1.80). 

By the time the rest of our group were altogether, 37 of us from America, our tour guide lead us out of the airport terminal and into the bus waiting area. Andy explained to us that our suitcases will be loaded in a different van and we will board the bus with our carry-on bags. The porters struggled to load the big bags into the van and one big, strong guy in our group jumped in to help, power loading the entire van in seconds. (This was Colin, a great guy from New Jersey who we’d get to know later.) The porters looked on in amazement. 

On the way to our hotel, The DoubleTree Hotel in Beijing, Andy explained that we are in rush hour and it will take approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. It was around 8:00pm on Sunday night in Beijing and the traffic was just like San Francisco on a week day between 3pm and 7pm. Yikes.

Our luggage was at the hotel when our bus arrived. By the time we were all checked in our room it was after 9:30pm. We were tired and dazed. 

This is the view from our hotel at midnight

This is our view of Beijing from the window of our hotel the next morning around 5am.

Beijing sunrise

Our room had two single beds, as they all did we later found out. We joked that these were the China one child policy hotel rooms. 

Of course I woke up at 5am Monday morning, Beijing time, and that’s 1pm on Sunday afternoon in California,15 hours different. 

I loved the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Needless to say, they had cereals, eggs, bacon, and all those things you can find at any breakfast place in America. But I saw foods that I haven’t seen since I left Saigon in 1975 when I was 15 years old. There were baos, pickled asian radish, and stuff that looked strange but I ate anyway, and it was good. There were 4 different rice porridges, steamed fish, steamed meats, moon cakes, many Chinese pastries like the ones we loved in Hong Kong and lots of tropical fruits. Even a wonton soup station, freshly made, with lots of fresh herbs. We never touched the American style stuff.

Our first sightseeing trip was to the Ming Tombs from the Ming dynasty. The Site is located within the suburban Changping District of Beijing Municipality, 26 miles north-northwest of Beijing city center. 

On the way, Andy explained to us the traffic in Beijing is very bad but that Beijing has a good public transportation system and the trains run every few minutes to accommodate over 23 million people in the city. But you are sardined into the trains at peak times. Andy explained that even if a citizen has a car, they can’t drive it on certain day of the week, depending on license plate number. The city has rules that prevent total gridlock, and getting a driver’s license, a license plate, and buying a car are long and expensive processes. 

Stay tune for Part 2 - Tours for the Tourists

The Ming Tombs, The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbitten City, Lazy Panda, Summer Palace, Old Beijing and Bell Tower.