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I arrived in Beijing at about 2 in the afternoon. As this was my second visit, I felt a certain comfortable familiarity as I went about my business in the airport.
China 2001 - Part One: Beijing & Tianjin
Dougburnett2003-11-23 19:44:22
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Beijing, Saturday, September 1
I arrived in Beijing at about 2 in the afternoon. As this was my second visit, I felt a certain comfortable familiarity as I went about my business in the airport. First, I cashed some travelers’ checks and then bought an onward ticket to Kashgar, in the west of China. Finally, I walked outside and got in the taxi queue. I passed the taxi touts who frequent the arrival hall, preferring the reliability of the authorized taxi service.
With almost no waiting I was ushered into a taxi. The driver even started the meter without being reminded. He then whisked me passed office buildings and factories on the way to Beijing. In slightly more that 30 minutes I arrived at my hotel. The fare was 80 Yuan - plus 10 more for the highway toll ($11).
My hotel, the Lu Song Yuan, was down a narrow hutong (alley), northwest of the Forbidden City. It can be a little hard to find, so I had brought a map. Using it, the driver found the hotel without any problem. It’s a small, comfortable place - a converted Chinese mansion with rooms organized around a series of courtyards.
I checked in and dropped my bag off. Before I left the hotel, I asked if they could get me a train ticket to Tianjin for the morning. The desk clerk made a phone call and said the ticket would be delivered later in the day - for a 10 Yuan ($1.25) service charge. I then walked down to the end of the hutong and found a restaurant for a late lunch. I sat next to a large window where I could watch the pedestrians, bicycles and cars flowing past.
After lunch I set out to walk the kinks out of my back after 13 hours on the plane. I headed east down Dianmen Lu toward the Second Ring road. I walked past hotels, restaurants, temples, beauty shops and bicycle repair stands. The afternoon was hot and many people were sitting on the sidewalk. Even though only three and a
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