Ok, so nothing exciting on the school (or life) front.  The most exciting thing that's happened to me is receiving a care package from Mom and Dad (containing clothes and my favorite- granola bars and dessert bowls).  Then I *finally* got Torchwood Season 1 on DVD from Amazon.  Only watched one episode (last night), and I've only watched episodes 1-10 of season 2 (there's 13).  I'm glad I can pace myself (like I can with chocolate, just ask my parents), makes it last longer.

So...as for the title.  This week's theme at school is music (so, naturally, I'm exciting anyway).  And this week's Music class topic- Heavy Metal.  So at the beginning, I told them a little bit about the history, then about the fashion, moshing, headbanging and crowd surfing.  Then I played "Crazy Train" by Black Sabbath, "You've Got Another Thing Coming" by Judas Priest, "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden, skipped over "Back in Black" by AC/DC due to time constraints, "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N Roses, and then my favorite.... Metallica's "Enter Sandman"!  So as the song started, and as James Hetfield's voice was about to come on, I put my hair down, got my metal hands ready... and headbanged!  Attempt 1 only last a few seconds since I wasn't steady on heels enough for it, so after taking my shoes off...

HEADBANG!

Yup, there's a Metal girl in me somewhere who comes out to play sometimes.........

The students seemed to enjoy it, and I got a sore neck out of the deal- but it was still so much fun!

It's moments like this I love my job.

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Beijing is my hometown,and I am so proud of it . Everything is ready for the 2008 Olympic Games and the whole city is quite pretty. I would like to tell you: so far, it is best time to visit Beijing . There are no so many travellers than we expect and we have got quite resonable prices from Hotels. If you are more than 10 pax or reserve 5 or more rooms, I could offer you $60.0/day/per room(breakfast is included) in a 4 stars Hotel untill hte end of Jully.

 Of course, for a pckage tour, I would also like to inform acceptable quotations, I will illustrate the detailes in my later Blog.

Let me show you around in Beijing.

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Me and my housemate joined a package tour to Beijing + Xi'an last Feb 18 to 21 to celebrate 2007 Lunar New Year in China. We arranged everything in Singapore for this trip. We knew that independent travel would be difficult for us since we can't speak and read chinese, and we don't have time to waste. So there, we went for a package tour to China!

Even from the start, we knew that our tour guides will be speaking "little English". This hit me when I ended up taking photos instead of listening to the guide. He spoke chinese all through out the trip, I cannot understand a word. Our tour guide would explain things in Mandarin for 30 minutes, and would translate it to English for 3 minutes. Despite of the language barrier, I still enjoyed my trip to the middle earth (thanks to Rough Guides and other travel books). I read about the places that we would be visiting and this made my trip really enjoyable. However, I was not able to grasp all the "juicy" stories about the emperor and the concubines and the last empress that caused the downfall of the emperial China.

Okay here are the highlights of my tour in Beijing:  

Tiananmen Square • A very exciting place to visit because of its fame (or I would say notoriety) of the not so distant history of revolt that caused great multitude of death. In a normal day - locals and tourists normally crowd this largest square in the world. It is exciting and scary at the same time to see Chinese soldiers march around the square. I can’t explain it but it is a surreal experience.  

Forbidden City • Chinese Architecture at it’s best! A half-day is not enough to fully appreciate and explore the whole complex. What make this place more interesting are the stories behind the façade of this palace complex. Most famous would be the story of Cixi, the iron lady who ruled China and causes the downfall of Imperial China. Of course, no one can miss out the stories of concubines and eunuchs who once lived with the royals. But I would say, after hours of exploring this "city", I got too much of chinese that time. lol.  

Great Wall of China • It is a very long wall but you can only see a portion of it. And to appreciate the true grandeur of the wall, one has to travel long distance. It was on the foot of the wall where I tried the General's attire. It was a funny experience indeed.  

Temple Of Heaven • This is another icon of China. It is the cylindrical temple with three levels depicting the commoners, the emperor and the heavens. This is where the peasant offers their harvest to their gods. This is my favorite structure in Beijing.  

Beihai Garden • This is where I got lost. I got separated from the tour group for taking Too much picture. It was really interesting to see Beijingers doing tai chi, water calligraphy in this garden park. My highlight here is the statue of dragons of different colors.  

Summer Palace • This used to be the Emperor’s summer abode. This place is very scenic with a temple on top of the hill. This place is worth a visit.

Yonghe Lamasery - This used to be an emperor's abode, but to forge alliance with the Tibet Lama, they offered this temple to him. This is a living temple. Beijingers usually go to this temple to pray and burn incense.  

Things I don’t like with joining tours would be the endless visits to factories…silk, pearl, jade and only Chinese gods know what else. The time we went there, Beijing has started preparing for Olympics 2008. There are five Panda mascots representing the games. They are BeiBei JingJing HuanHuan Jingjing Nini, their names mean Beijing Welcomes You (Beijing Huanjing Ni).  

I also enjoyed Acrobatic Show in Beijing; I guess this is the best in the world! Another thing, the Kung Fu show is more than what I expected. They combine ballet with kung fu! Interesting, di ba?  

Funny thought I had in Beijing: The taste of Peking duck in Beijing tastes the same with Peking duck that I ate in Shang Palace Manila.

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It is a typical sichuan style Hotpot restaurant,the taste is gorgeous and service is great,and enviorment is pretty.

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     I have got a new group from the U.S, Colin's family, the story as below:
Day1. I picked them up from Beiing International airport which is a new terminal building.  then I escorted them to the Holiday inn, a 4 stas Hotel.

Day 2. We visited the Temple of Heaven where hte Emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties(1420-1911) went for praying good harvest. In the morning, thousands of loal people have morning exercices such as Tai Ji box,kick ball, dancing with long silk ribons and play pokkers. Then, we went to visit the Fobidden city and Ti'an Men square and a silk shop where you can find out how hte silk produced from the silk worm.

Day 3,This morning, we went to the Hutong tour where we sat in the rickshawl and had a lunch in a local famliky, and we enjoyed loal white lightiening-moon shine, 56% alcholhal.

Day 4. Today, our highlight programme is to visit the Great Wall and Ming Tomb spirit road. The Great Wall was early built in the Qin dynasty,2000years ago, the wall is composed with countless passse , towers and fortifications which scattered in the north part of China and Gobbi desert.  At that night, I took Collin Aulds to a local Hot Pot that is a traditional local flavor, a kind of spicy food which is full of red peppers and brown peppers. later, we went to a Bar where so many inde-music players, collin did vive me a surprise, he peformed on the stage,that was so beautiful sound and catching voice made me so happy.

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De Chinese muur （“ the great wall） is zeker een van de， of misschien zelfs wel het hoogte punt van mijn reis tot nu toe。Prachtig om de muur door het bergachtige groene landschap te zien lopen！

Samen met twee Zweedse dames uit het hostel heb ik een tour geboekt naar de Chinese muur。 We hebben ruim 10km over de gewandeld en geklommen， op een nog niet zo heel touristisch stuk muur， ongeveer 4 uur rijden vanaf Beijing。Dat was even vroeg op staan， we vertokken al om kwart over zes。Het was een behoorlijk zware wandeling，maar echt geweldig！ Prachtige uitzichten over de muur en het mooie landschap。 Combineer dat met prachtig weer， en de ervaring is compleet。 De Chinezen leerden tot voorkort op school dat de muur het enige gebouw op aarde was， want je vanaf de maan kunt zien。 Je zou het graag geloven als je de muur ziet， maar ook de Chinezen weten inmiddels dat je de muur toch echt niet vanuit de ruimte kunt zien。。。
Helaas kan ik geen foto‘s online zetten， internet is daarvoor helaas veeeel te traag。

Natuurlijk is er meer te zien in Beijing。 De verboden stad， was erg mooi om te bekijken， maar helaas waren er wel erg veel andere toeristen。 Verder de Lama tempel bekeken， Temple of Heaven Park （inclusief de tempels en gebouwen）， natuurlijk het plein van de Hemelse Vrede， met de gebouwen rondom en op het plein en nog wat andere plekken。

Nu ik in het zomers weer ben bepland wat het ook tijd om te gaan shoppen。 Tijd om te gaan afdingen dus。。。 en dat is altijd weer even wennen。 Maar uiteindelijk toch redelijk goedkoop wat kleren en schoenen kunnen kopen。

Inmiddels is de memory card （4 GB）van  mijn camara helemaal vol， zoveel moois gezien en gefotograafeerd。。。 Tijd om een cd-tje te branden dus， want ook in Kuala Lumpur （ga ik morgen naar toe） en Bali zal er nog wel veel moois te zien zijn！

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Beijing is being heavily reconstructed because of the 2008 olympics and the Chinese have passed a law that all construction must be completed by 2007, so all the dust and dirt from the overhaul can be cleaned in time... SO we're talking construction going on everywhere at the same time. It's real bizarre. But from my initial impression of the city, it definitely looks like it needed a facelift. There's a lot of poverty in Beijing.

We took a transit bus from the airport to the main train station and walked out into madness- two first impressions: one, the chinese are wiley and impatient. They do not wait in line. They will blatantly cut in front of you, in fact, they'll keep squeezing forward until there's no space left. It's real uncomfortable for a courteous guy like myself ;) especially coming from Japan where people will queue up in a line even if they don't know where it leads. This also goes for cars- like everywhere in Asia (save Japan), bigger has the right of way on the road.. which pretty much makes a pedestrian the lowest on the food chain. Even if you've got the green to cross the street, if a car is coming your way, you gotta lunge to get outta the way. Pretty strange.

The second impression is that the majority of the people are old. In Vietnam, the majority of the people were young (because of the war). Definitely the opposite in Beijing. Everywhere I looked, 90% were middle aged... again, very strange. (As a sidenote, I think I've since figured out why there aren't that many youngins hangin around. If you're "of age," you're probably in college, or if not, you're forced to serve as a policeman..  the cops here look like high school kids. However, you can't join the military unless you're over 6 feet tall.)

Train station madness, I mean it. Pushing through it all, Tracy and I came out into the station plaza and walked about a half hour to check out a hostel that was highly recommended by my guidebook. The place was on the 10th floor of a 4-star hotel and looked awesome, but it turned out that it was shut down for repairs (the first in a series of blunders caused by my guidebook - more on that later). So we walked all the way back to the train station and checked into a hostel right across the street. Great place - only had one single bed room left by the time we got there, and we eagerly said we'd take it. But the chinese kid across the counter was shocked and repeated to us that it was a single bed. We laughed and told him again we'd take it, but he insisted that we see the room first. We humored him and put on our best airs that we were just gonna have to make do before he finally relented and gave us the room - amusing stuff. The place also had guitars lying around in their bar and that was pretty cool. I strummed out a few originals for Tracy and turned in early.

The next day, we went to the forbidden city. Along the way, we got lost and found this old catholic church in the middle of nowhere that was surrounded by a steel fence. As we were passing, some chinese guy was banging on the gate and then another guy who looked like he had nothing to do with church finally let him in and left the gate wide open. I snapped a picture through the gate and we moved on.

We eventually found the walls of the city, but couldn't tell where the entrance was (the forbidden city is huge) so I sat down to check out the map. My ass wasn't on the sidewalk 2 seconds when this chinese guy and a young girl asked us where we wanted to go. It was our first time being approached by chinese who spoke english, so we were more than happy to make conversation. When we told them we were looking for the entrance of the forbidden city, they insisted on showing us, taking us through an obscure opening in the wall and through these beautiful chinese gardens along the way to the main gate... all the while talking away under the guise that they wanted to practice their English. They were both art students and they were about to go to New york for an art show featuring chinese art. We came out of the gardens and, what a coincidence! their art shop was right there! "Maybe you'd like to take a look!" the chinese guy said. I couldn't help but smile as I walked inside - we had been good and suckered. But their company was pleasant so we didn't mind much.

When we finally escaped the art shop, we walked on to the forbidden city. Pretty amazing stuff, but so extremely over-crowded that you're almost better off watching the last emperor for a good look at it. The funniest thing about our trip through the city was the audio tour we got, which included an ear bud and console with a map of the city, marked with little lights at each point of interest - but the damn thing was automated and timed to follow the "ideal" route through the city, so the majority of the time we were listening to history about parts of the city we weren't even at. In fact, most of the time, we had no clue what the voice was talking about.

I bought a beer in the middle of the forbidden city. Fuckin a.

Eventually, we came out into Tianamen square - lotta space, lotta concrete, very chinese. Tracy bought a kite and we felt like kids trying to fly it. Chinese families kept coming up to us and asking to take pictures with us. We had peking duck that night. I realized I'm not much of a duck guy.

The next day we took a 3 hour bus ride out to the great wall. The tour we signed up with dropped us off at a section of the wall and then we hiked about 4 hours to the next major fortress, where the bus met us to take us home. It was a great experience except for one thing... locals follow you the ENTIRE time trying to sell you something. Fucking pain in the ass. I know it's their country and all, but no one's tolerance deserves to be tested like that. Don't get me wrong, it was still worth it. The wall is beautiful, even if it's a symbol of fear. I stole a crumb from the wall and felt like a jerk the rest of the hike. But the feeling didn't last too long cuz there was a zip line at the end, and zip lines are fun.

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At about 2:30, I was sitting in the teachers' room at school, working on something when I suddenly felt really dizzy and just plain real sick.  So bad, that I thought if I stood, I'd pass out.  I knew it wasn't because I was hungry, I'd eaten recently.  But then it passed and I was fine.  Then Daniel came in and said we had to evacuate, that we'd just had an earthquake.  I kinda looked at him funny because when I think of earthquakes, I think of shaking.  But he was serious, so I got up and we outside for all of 10 seconds.  No one else was really outside, so I went back in.  It wasn't until my face-to-face class that I jumped on CNN.com (my student and I were talking about it) and realized how bad it was. 

For those who aren't familiar with China's layout, Beijing is in the northeast.  The earthquake was centered around Chegdu, more than 1000 miles away.  It registered 7.9 and was felt as far away as Thailand, Hong Kong and Pakistan.  And as China is still a developing country, and the Western part of the country isn't as wealthy as the eastern part (they have Beijing and Shanghai), it really devastated that region.  So please, please, please, keep those people in your thoughts and prayers.

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Since Librette and Jan had visitors coming, and they were taking vacation at the same time, they wanted to go the Wall.  Since they were going on a Monday, I tagged along.  Librette went through the same person, but instead of a car, we had a minivan!  We met at the apartment and were on the road by 8am.  It was a familiar trip since I’d just done it, but it was still fun.  At the Wall, we took the cable car up to the mini-train, then the mini-train on up and we hiked the rest.  This time, we hiked to Tower 8 first, then walked down the Wall to Tower 2 since we wanted to take the zipline.  We stopped every so often to take pictures, and we took our time and had a lot of fun.  At the zipline, Jan and I took pictures of each other so we’d have photographic evidence of this adventure.  Then we took a boat across the reservoir to the dock, where we walked back to the mini-van.

We stopped to eat the same place my parents and I had gone to and we all had a good meal.  Then it was a ride back home.  We stopped at a silk place near Hongqiao and Chongwenmen, where most of us were just tired and bored, but Librette and her friend wanted to go.  John (guide) bought us three girls each a lipstick case, and we headed back to the apartment.  There, John dropped us off and it was a good night for him and the driver.  In the apartment, I changed my shirt and realized I’d gotten a little sunburnt.  But I decided to go out (I wasn’t going to because I was a little burnt, really tired and not hungry).  We stopped at the DVD store where I bought Torchwood Series Two and Supernatural Season Three, met the others at CenturyMart (grocery store) and we took a bus down to China World Mall. 

I love Coldstone Creamery.  I ended up getting the Boston Crème Pie (I added a chocolate brownie) and it was heaven in Beijing…at least for the moment.

From there, it was another good night and I still had another day off to look forward to…and some Torchwood.

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Rain!  And not just a little.  It was coming down pretty hard.  My parents last full day in Beijing and we couldn’t do much of anything.  The Zoo is mostly outdoors, and while we’d done the Prague Zoo in the rain, it wasn’t a steady downpour like it was today.  So instead of meeting Librette at the Zoo, we all went out to the Western side together.  Our first stop was a market near the Fuchengmen metro station, where after quite a while, I bought two tea sets (one for my grandmother and one for myself) and Mom got a cool tea mug.  They also got chopsticks for themselves and for friends of theirs, and Mom got some Chinese purses (I got the bigger ones, they come in sets of 5).  Once that was all done, we went to dinner and then it was on home where they got packed for the most part.

Monday was bittersweet.  I knew they had to leave for the States, but I didn’t want them to go.  I missed them a lot and it was great to have them here.  So I took them to Grandma’s Kitchen for a nice breakfast (they’re first and last meals in Beijing were at Grandma’s Kitchen).  From there, we were at the apartment for a little while, then it was off to the airport.  It was an okay ride there, a few traffic accidents to be seen, and our driver went to the wrong terminal.  But we got there alright, and I got them to the Customs check before they could actually check-in.  From there, we said our goodbyes (and yes there were tears) and I saw them into the check-in area.  Then I was off home.  I took the shuttlebus back to SoHo, where after stopping at Jenny Lou’s, I went home to start unpacking the suitcase they left for me.

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I know, Chaoyang Park isn’t a major tourist attraction in Beijing.  We’d already done the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, the Zoo is planned for tomorrow, and the Summer Palace just seems too difficult to get to.  Plus, I was the tourguide and I wanted to go to the Park.  So after another leisurely morning, we finally headed off to the Park.  We took a taxi since it was easiest.  We got dropped out at the South Gate, got our 5 RMB tickets and went inside.

We did a lot of wandering around, and we went inside the Sony ExploraScience center.  It was so much fun!!  There was a lot in there, from light to sound waves.  They had stuff in English, so we were able to understand, plus the staff spoke varying degrees of English too, which helped a lot.  In the end, we got a picture of ourselves with our names on it as a souvenir.  

I’m sometimes easily amused.  So what?

After that, it was more wandering around.  I was thinking about bungee jumping, but the thing looked inaccessible and closed.  So at the cherry blossoms, it was photo op time.  So after being an impromptu model, we kept walking until we found some 5-on-5 soccer matches that we watched for a few minutes.  It seemed that the players were a mix of Chinese and foreigners. 

Overall, Chaoyang Park was nice, but I prefer Tiantan since I like temples.  Though there is more space and open area at Chaoyang Park.  We left through the West Gate since there is a Jenny Lou’s there.  I’d never been to that one before, and it’s bigger than the one in SoHo and the one by RiTan.  So we bought stuff and I checked out the DVDs (didn’t get any), then we took a taxi home since we’d bought enough.

So after some time at home, we took a taxi to the Chaoyangmen area since that’s where the hot pot restaurant was that I wanted to try.  It’s called I Rock My Pot (see review below).  It was so good!  The menu was in English, and there was someone who knew enough English to know what I meant since I did the ordering.  Unfortunately, as I’m well-enough-versed in hot pot, I forgot to explain the intricacies to my parents.  So once we got that settled, it was a good meal.  The waitress helped us out, and the fact that they had individual pots and DIY dipping sauces made it more fun.  There was a cut-out of someone in the restaurant near our table, and my parents swear it’s Jackie Chan, but I don’t agree.  I don’t know who it is, but I don’t think it’s Jackie Chan.  I’ll let you judge for yourself (taken with the camera phone).  And for dessert, they had these good little cakes that I wouldn’t mind finding again.

After dinner we found a bakery that I wanted to try.  So my parents each got something and I got a brownie and two somethings.  From there, it was a taxi home.  Turned out that our desserts weren’t that good.  China hasn’t quite figured out desserts.  But I’ve since read that the Chinese don’t like things that are too sweet (it was an article about Oreos needing to be less sweet- sacrilege!).   That was it for the day…

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Why did I ever take a tour from Beijing with only 3 nights and 2 days ... CRAZY ME ... this is one thing I've learnt when visiting here; I needed one week ... it's pretty bad when your guide is only able to point at certain monuments etc ... not enough time ... I must say they are certainly repainting, and doing a great job, of all the temples there ... in anticipation of the 2008 Olympics ...

Everywhere you go they are promoting Olympics 2008 ... souvenirs shops for the Olympics every 2 steps ... of course, and I am a huge fan of the Olympics and so I will regret not being brought to the Beijing National Stadium or Birds Nest and the Beijing National Aquatics Centre or Water Cube (水立方=H₂O) both places I was quickly driven by but at least I took some shots in the car as we drove ... during this time I would of loved to have been stuck in 'rush-hour-traffic' but my luck wasn't going that way ... the guide told me he would bring us up to it but I don't know what he was thinking cause he totally forgot and ignored me when I questioned him ... figures, on this tour I'd get a young guy just interested in doing 'a bit' not going that 'extra mile' oh well I learned and he didn't get the greatest tip ... of course we were taken to the Countdown Clock perhaps he was trying to make up (not a chance)

I quickly fell in love with the mascots for the Olympics ... Aren't they so cute ... I bought many many Olympic Mascots, a coin set etc. My friend from China was seemingly wondering why I was overly interested in these little guys ... she began to become annoyed at the shear volume of Mascots on Billboards, in the Sub-Ways, the Souvenir Shop everywhere ... I came home with so many mascots ... 

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My volleyball team and I arrived in Beijing after the longest flight in history! We stayed at the Jian Guo Garden Hotel in downtown Beijing. Our tour guide, Jack, met us to make sure we were situated and comfortable. The next morning, we got to climb the Great Wall! Since my coach was concerned about his players' health, we couldn't climb it for too long, especially since it was SOOO hot! Then we saw the Summer Palace, which is so gorgeous! The next day, we went to Tianamen Square and it was hard to believe I stood where so many had died. It was really emotional, yet great. The Forbidden City was also that day and although the tour took forever, it was so pretty! On July 22, we had our first volleyball matches at No 101 Middle School. Then we went to the Hutong District and Silk Alley. Silk Alley is one of the most choatic yet amazing places EVER! We had a Peking duck dinner that night, which was really good! On the 23rd, we had more matches, went to the Temple of Heaven, and that night went to an amazing acrobatic show. Then we had a free day before we left for Shanghai! Beijing is pretty much beautiful!

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The new terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) is brand new and very spacious, but that's also one of its disadvantages. After the airplane lands, it takes a long time, sometimes 10-15 minutes for it to taxi to somewhere, which may not be the gate! But far out on the tarmac in a corner of the airport, and you would get off on the airport and walk down stairs to the tarmac. Then an airport ferry bus would come to take you to the terminal, this bus ride can also take a long time, 10 minutes or more. Once you get into the terminal, you would probably be impressed by the tall ceilings and modern architecture. If your gate is at the far end of the terminal, it could be a good 5-10 minute walk to immigration and customs and health quarantine. The immigration is usually very fast, as they have lots of agents serving the travelers. If you did not get an entry card to fill out on the airplane, you can find one here and fill it out. The luggage area is also very spacious, the speed the luggage shoots out of belt into the carousel was the fastest I have ever seen! Free luggage carts are available here if you have a lot of luggage. With your luggage, you go past the customs probably with nothing to declare, and through the Greeting Hall (very large) to the outside to catch a taxi or airport bus to Beijing. Check the web site for the official information on taxis and buses. When you take a flight from the airport, you may find some reclining lounge chairs at certain gates, but they are likely to be occupied by the early birds. They have a business center before you walk way out of the branches of the terminal For domestic departure, as of this writing (May 2008), no liquids are allowed in carry-on, and you must check them in checked luggage. Even though the signs said for domestic only, the rule apparently applies to international also. You would probably take the train to your terminal, like all the E gates are far away and you have to take the train to it. The train comes every 3 minutes. After getting off, you will then go through the quarantine, immigration (fill out a departure card), customs, and security. This may take 20 minutes total. Then you are at the gates area. Here you should find a business center where you can use the internet for 10 RMB/15 minutes or 30 RMB for unlimited use.

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The flight from Urumqi to Beijing should take 3 hours 45 minutes, but after I got to the airport at Urumqi, and finding the Air China check-in counter (which was not easy to find because they  had just one small sign, along with all the other Chinese airlines), I was told the the 9:40am flight was delayed til 1pm, and we should get our meal and hotel vouchers and board the bus to the hotel to rest!

So back on the bus and to a hotel near the airport. The hotel is actually not too bad, probably almost a 3 star one. So I watched some TV about the 5-12 earthquake in China, many schools had collapsed and school children were buried under the rubbles, but some were seen pulled out alive on TV. We were in Turpan on that day, and didn't feel any quake. It had rained since in some of the quake affected areas and some of the roads were not passable, soldiers and rescue workers had to hike on foot into the remote villages. Not a good scene.

About 11:40am, the bus took us back to the airport, and we checked in. The airplane was set to depart about 1:30pm. It eventually departed just before 2pm. I had some random Chinese man sitting next to me, who after ordering one beer, wanted me to order another one for him! I said no, and that he could order it himself. He was able to get a second beer with the meal. Before 5pm, the stewardess announced that we were going to land in Beijing soon, and gave us the usual about sit belts, seat backs, tray tables etc. But then after 5:30pm, she came back on the air and said we had been diverted due to thunder storms in Beijing to Shijiazhuang airport and would land about 18:15pm.

A sort of a roar/sighs erupted in the cabin, and people mumbled and talked. I asked the woman next to me how far Shijiazhuang was from Beijing and she said 175km but it's not right. We landed, and the airplane was refueled. We were told to stay on the airplane because we would be departing soon. This time it was our luck that we only waited til 7pm before the plane took off again for Beijing, The announcement said it was 400km to Beijing and it would take 45 minutes. We did eventually land in Beijing about 50 minutes lates, and had to taxi 15 minutes to the far corner of the airport. Then we were bussed to the terminal 3 (about 10 minutes). Luggage was late in showing up, So at about 8:45pm, I was able to leave the airport with my luggage!

From when I left the hotel in Urumqi to getting out of the airport in Beijing, it took almost 13 hours! It was another long day. My brother met me for a late dinner, and I finished the day with some blogging, but I forgot to say that I arrived in Beijing safely.

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