Hi Everyone
We just landed last night. It's 5 a.m. here in Beijing, 4 p.m. in Mpls where we started.
I have free internet here in the hotel along with, wonder of wonders, a 100V outlet! As long as these circumstances continue, I'll continue to post.
From the time I got in the taxi until arrival in the hotel room, it was exactly 24 hours. A very long trip. We flew Northwest, direct from MSP to Tokyo and then direct to Beijing, again on Northwest. I frequently travel NWA and I must say that these two flights were two of the most pleasant I've been on. There were several tasty meals on the MSP-NRT leg and another on the flight to Beijing. Although we took off almost an hour late, we still arrived on time. The connection to Beijing was only an hour and a half after the Narita arrival. I think that many of the people on the Tokyo flight ended up being on the Beijing flight. We had to pass thru security again at Narita, which made me nervous about making the flight to Beijing, but we had no trouble although the line at secruity was very long.
We arrived in Beijing at about 10 p.m. I think we were the only flight landing in the terminal at the time, so it was very empty. Another long line for immigration. Picked up our bags and headed outside baggage claim, where Sandy, one of the ABD guides was waiting for us. He says that the other guide is Fred. He took us to our minivan and our driver delivered us to the hotel. It was about a 30 minute drive, very little traffic.
Checkin was quick. They did take copies of our passports. All of us had to sign a registration form, yes, even the kids. The room was a king room. There are 3 of us staying here. I find it a little on the small side. The furniture is attractive, but there is no place to store the luggage. The bed is very very firm by North American standards. I took the very soft pillows and arranged them around me so that I could sleep. It took me a while to find where the thermostat control in the room is: It's on the phone! I woke up quite chilled since I couldn't find the thermostate before bed and am still wearing my jacket over my pajamas. There is room service from 5 a.m.-11 p.m. Of course, we picked up the room service menu at 11:10 p.m.
There is a minibar with Pringles and peanuts and some of the MOST expensive prices I've ever seen in a minibar - $6 for a small can of peanuts. There is also liquor, tea, Sanka, soda, chocolate. The room has a DVD player, flat screen TV, hairdryer, safe, a kettle, phone, Wifi and a fax machine. No coffee machine . That's fine by me, I'm a tea drinker so am thrilled with the kettle. There is a pool and gym on the premises. There is a concierge and a currency exchange desk in the lobby. There is a restaurant - can you tell I'm hungry? - that we will check out when the kids wake up. The kids deal with jetlag better than I do. They're soundly sleeping.
Just plugged my laptop into the wall 110 V outlet. So far, so good.
Will post again. If you have questions, I'll try and find out the answers.
Abdmom
We just landed last night. It's 5 a.m. here in Beijing, 4 p.m. in Mpls where we started.
I have free internet here in the hotel along with, wonder of wonders, a 100V outlet! As long as these circumstances continue, I'll continue to post.
From the time I got in the taxi until arrival in the hotel room, it was exactly 24 hours. A very long trip. We flew Northwest, direct from MSP to Tokyo and then direct to Beijing, again on Northwest. I frequently travel NWA and I must say that these two flights were two of the most pleasant I've been on. There were several tasty meals on the MSP-NRT leg and another on the flight to Beijing. Although we took off almost an hour late, we still arrived on time. The connection to Beijing was only an hour and a half after the Narita arrival. I think that many of the people on the Tokyo flight ended up being on the Beijing flight. We had to pass thru security again at Narita, which made me nervous about making the flight to Beijing, but we had no trouble although the line at secruity was very long.
We arrived in Beijing at about 10 p.m. I think we were the only flight landing in the terminal at the time, so it was very empty. Another long line for immigration. Picked up our bags and headed outside baggage claim, where Sandy, one of the ABD guides was waiting for us. He says that the other guide is Fred. He took us to our minivan and our driver delivered us to the hotel. It was about a 30 minute drive, very little traffic.
Checkin was quick. They did take copies of our passports. All of us had to sign a registration form, yes, even the kids. The room was a king room. There are 3 of us staying here. I find it a little on the small side. The furniture is attractive, but there is no place to store the luggage. The bed is very very firm by North American standards. I took the very soft pillows and arranged them around me so that I could sleep. It took me a while to find where the thermostat control in the room is: It's on the phone! I woke up quite chilled since I couldn't find the thermostate before bed and am still wearing my jacket over my pajamas. There is room service from 5 a.m.-11 p.m. Of course, we picked up the room service menu at 11:10 p.m.
There is a minibar with Pringles and peanuts and some of the MOST expensive prices I've ever seen in a minibar - $6 for a small can of peanuts. There is also liquor, tea, Sanka, soda, chocolate. The room has a DVD player, flat screen TV, hairdryer, safe, a kettle, phone, Wifi and a fax machine. No coffee machine . That's fine by me, I'm a tea drinker so am thrilled with the kettle. There is a pool and gym on the premises. There is a concierge and a currency exchange desk in the lobby. There is a restaurant - can you tell I'm hungry? - that we will check out when the kids wake up. The kids deal with jetlag better than I do. They're soundly sleeping. Just plugged my laptop into the wall 110 V outlet. So far, so good.
Will post again. If you have questions, I'll try and find out the answers.
Abdmom
