Arriving in China

There's not a lot of excitement to a travel day and landing in a new country late at night but I wanted to post so you know I am safe. 

Arriving at SFO I realized it was a make it or break it moment - will they let me check in without a visa? The kind lady asked some clarifying questions and that was it - And I let out a huge sigh of relief. At this point even though my flight wasn't leaving for over 3 hours, it was time for Greg and I to say our goodbyes - he was leaving from the other wing of the international terminal. 

My 12-hour flight path

Landing in Beijing, on my way to immigration, I passed a long row of fingerprinting kiosks. No one appeared to be stopping at them but since there were so many I figured it was something  I had to do. Interesting that they require fingerprinting to enter China! Then I had to pass by the long immigration area - I actually had to walk by all the lines and then leave through the other entrance to get to the small desk where you apply for a transit visa. The signage wasn't great - it wasn't well marked - so I was glad I knew in advance I had to find it before getting in the immigration line. The "24/144 hour transit" desk checked every stamp in my passport and questioned the one for Italy, which was just barely legible.  Good thing I haven't gone anywhere suspicious. 

At the small desk near immigrations, I was actually granted a visa-free stay of 144 hours

I was supposed to land at 6pm yet wasn't actually walking out of the airport until 8:15pm. Thankfully my driver was still waiting for me. 

Driving out of the airport , I could've been back home on Hwy 50 - nice cars, clean freeway. Everything was quiet. Have you noticed that in silence you have heightened senses?  I mean my brain knew I was China, but suddenly I was ultra aware of my reality at that very moment:  I am in China ... sitting in the car alone .. with the driver ... I don't speak Chinese ... he doesn't speak English.  It was an odd sensation, and I've decided travel is a lot more intense when you're traveling alone.  It wasn't a long drive, only 15 miles, and the driver kindly followed me into the hotel lobby to confirm with the front desk that I was in the right place. He gave me a beautiful hand-cut stationary card. I arranged the airport transfer through Trippest, a subset of China Highlights, and highly recommend it. 

I managed to get quite a bit of sleep on the plane so even though it was past my regular bedtime, I needed to kill some time. I don't normally choose to stay in big hotels but I'm especially appreciative of my decision. I'm staying in the center of Beijing, near the Forbidden Palace, and along a big shopping street. I asked the front desk if it was safe to go out. "In China any time is safe," they replied. 

So I went walking down Wangfujing street  - most of it is pedestrian-only with high-end stores. 

Pedestrian Wangfujing shopping street

These bulls look like a replica from Pamplona Spain, but the "Five Bulls Gathering Fortune" sculpture actually references the national heritage painting: "Portrait of Five Bulls"

My goal was to see its tourist "Snack Street" where they sell fried bugs and meats on skewers. 

Looking down Snack Street from the entrance

I was bummed that the guy blocking the entry informed me it is "closed" even though there were people everywhere and it was only 9:45pm. I figured it was time to head back to my hotel room. 

My upgraded hotel room at The Prime Hotel

During my walk, Greg's flight was landing in Dubai for his brief layover before he flies to Bangalore - so we don't get to talk and I don't get to hear all about how amazing business class is.