Hello from China!

October 4 – October 6, 2017:

We made it! And it’s been quite an adventure so far…

Our flight left around 2pm from Regina on Wednesday, October 4th. From there, we flew to Calgary for a short layover then on to LA. Once in LA, we had to pick up our baggage then hustle our butts to the China Eastern Airlines desk to pick up our boarding passes and check our luggage. The line-up to the desk was really long and we really stood out in the crowd. Luckily, Katie from Citslinc was there to greet us and accompanied us all the way to Shanghai. The TSA line-up was also long but it moved quickly and we were at our gate with time to spare.

The plane to Shanghai was HUGE! The First Class section looked amazing and I was secretly hoping the whole plane was First Class – but no such luck. There were approximately 75 rows of 10 seats with 3 rows on each side and 4 in the middle. The aisles and seats are tight – I highly recommend getting an aisle seat if you can. We were served 2 meals during the 13-hour flight. The first meal was a choice of prawn & noodles or beef & rice, served with a hot bun, a variation of potato salad and flan for dessert. The second meal was a choice of pork and noodles or omelet with assorted fresh fruit and a yogurt cup – this second meal was called breakfast. I was not a fan of the first meal and it was not a fan of me – it promptly reappeared shortly after. Have I mentioned that I don’t fly well?

The entertainment options during the flight were surprisingly great! Airlines have really upped their game in this area. Every seat has a tablet and you can choose from movies, tv shows, music and games. The movie selection included new movies like Wonder Woman and older movies like The Twilight Saga. I managed to stay awake for the first 3-4 hours (thanks to all my jet lag prep!) then slept for 6 hours and watched a movie for the last 3 hours.

Once we landed in Shanghai, we went through customs. We each had to fill out a small card with our personal information, passport # and destination. From there, Katie from Citslinc gathered our group of 15 together and we boarded a bus to go to a hotel for a couple hours during our 8-hour layover before the flight to Beijing. The scenery from the airport to the hotel was very green, somewhat smoggy and not entirely unfamiliar from home. The signs are in Chinese as well as English and everyone is very friendly! This area was somewhat rural and industrial, and rundown. The hotel that we stayed in was sketchy to say the least…I’m fairly certain it was paid by the hour, the rooms had a funny smell, the shower made the whole bathroom wet and we were scared to open the bed. But, it was better than staying at the airport for 8 hours and the chance to have a shower was totally worth it. **Tip: pack a change of clothes, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and anti-nauseous medication in your carry-on. We also had breakfast at this hotel – there was definitely a fried rice dish but I couldn’t tell you what the rest of the food was.

Disclaimer: This is not a typical layover. We were originally supposed to fly to Beijing at 9am but the flight was oversold so we had to wait until 2:55pm for our next flight.

Back at the Shanghai Airport, we went through security immediately upon going through the door to the airport and then another 2 times after that. Once inside the secure area, there were a lot of high-end shops and some restaurants. When it was time to board the plane, we lined up at the gate then got on a bus that took us to the tarmac. This was approximately a 3-hour flight and the plane was about 60 rows of six seats, three on each side. I was lucky to get an aisle seat for all of our flights! This flight also served a beverage and a peanut snack.

Once we arrived in Beijing, we had some mass confusion over our checked luggage due to our long layover. The domestic side claimed that Citslinc had picked up our luggage and sent us to the International side, but the International side had sent our luggage back to the domestic side because nobody had picked it up yet. After some frustration – we were all very tired at this point – we all got our luggage. Leo and Peter from Citslinc were at the airport to greet us with our Beijing guide – Bryan. Bryan immediately offered us beer and water on the bus then gave us a rundown of our time in Beijing. We got our first glimpse of Beijing at dusk – the architecture here is amazing! Every high-rise has some interesting feature and in a city of 21 million people, there is a lot of high-rises! Bryan took us for dinner at a very nice restaurant. The meal was served family-style with rice, sesame chicken, sauteed onions, green beans, and watermelon for dessert.

From the restaurant, we went to our hotel which is very swanky and impressive. Our room has 2 queen beds, a desk, a beautiful bathroom with a separate shower, water closet (aka toilet in a closed room), and soaker tub. There is also a glass wall between the bathroom and the bedroom – which is cool but sort of awkward when sharing a room with your dad, but luckily there is a motorized shade that closes off the bathroom. We were back at the room between 8 and 9pm and completely tuckered out. With a 6:00am wake-up call, I think our whole group was in bed early.