I arrived in Beijing about 2030 on United Airlines. United was nice enough to upgrade my free mileage plus economy ticket to business class. I took the airport to central Beijing for about $2. This is the best deal, as taxis will cost you around $12 if they use the meter, and as much as $30 if they're particularly greedy and you're particularly gullible. I took a bicycle pushcart to the main railway station from the airport bus stop. My intention was to head northeast about midnight. However, as it was a peak holiday season in China at the time, there were no tickets available until the following night. I didn't feel like waiting 24 hours in Beijing, especially because I only had 6 days for my trip. I met some other foreigners that had the same problem, and discovered a new strategy-buy a platform ticket, get on the train, and occupy someone else's seat. I headed for Qingdao, on the coast southeast of Beijing. I spent the next 11 hours sitting in soft seat, with 2 Australians and one Chinese-American. Around 1000, 10 hours after boarding, the conductor got around to checking our tickets, and we finally bought some. It only cost about $7.00-not a bad deal. The city was crawling with hoardes of Chinese tourists on holiday. Qingdao is moderately interesting. It was a German colony, with some turn of the century european architecture. I visited the local military museum and saw some old airplanes and a submarine, climbed to a viewpoint in Qingdaoshan park, and returned to my hotel.
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Octopi attempting to escape certain death in a restaurant in Qingdao |  |
An uncrowded Qingdao beach |  |
An outdoor billiards table at a luxurious Qingdao restaurant. |
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Qingdao retains some interesting German architecture. |  |
The luxurious restaurant mentioned above. |  |
Clocks in Shangdong Airline's office. |
Day 2-to Shenyang
As I had seen everything that I wanted to see in Qingdao the previous day, I was bored. I was walking down the road looking at the hoardes along the "beach" (see the photo below), when I noticed Shandong Airlines in a nearby building. I still wanted to go to northeastern China, so I bought a ticket for about $95 to Shenyang. I took China Eastern Airlines, one of more than 20 currently operating in China. The plane was a fairly modern 737-500, but the safety procedures left something to be desired. The seat belt light was turned off 2-3 minutes after takeoff, while we were still climbing. Also, when we landed, the typical seatbelt, traytable, and window shade check was not done. Finally, while landing, several people were using their cellular phones.
After landing safely, I took the airport bus to downtown Shenyang. I headed for my first choice, an inexpensive hotel listed in my trusty Lonely Planet guide. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the address, I found a large whole where the hotel had once stood. I found another hotel nearby for CNY 298, a little expensive for China. I went to the giant Mao statue a few kilometres from my hotel. I quote my Lonely Planet guide: "Of all the unusual statues in northeast China (Soviet war heroes, mini-tanks on top of pillars...) this one takes the cake. Like some kind of strange machine, it zooms out of Red Flag Square, a giant epoxy-resin Mao at the helm, flanked by vociferous peasants, soldiers, and workers. The last word on the personality cult and the follies of the Cultural Revolution, this is a rare item, erected in 1969."
There was some kind of festival happening, with various people (including travestites) in brightly colored costumes. I went to the station afterwards to try to buy a train ticket back to Beijing, but there were none available.
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The Mao statue. |  |
A cannon at the Imperial Palace. |  |
Street barbers are common in China. I found this man in Shenyang, in N.E. China. |
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Anyone for suicide? Chinese attempts at written English can be interesting. |
Day 3-Historical Shenyang
I went to the train station in my second attempt to buy a ticket. I met an Iranian postgraduate student who tried to assist me to no avail. We then went to some of the black market people outside the station, but they were out of tickets, too, I went to the North Tomb,the burial place of Huang Taiji (1542-1643), who founded the Qing Dynasty.The tomb itself was ok, but being a major holiday, the park was packed with people, and covered with trash. The Chinese do not generally "put litter in it's place." I took another bus to the Imperial Palace, a smaller, but just as impressive, version of the Forbidden City in Beijing.The layout is similar,it was completed in 1636. Next to the Imperial Palace is an very nice shopping center, completely out of place in China.Inside, fancy glass cases with expensive merchandise, outside the window, a collapsing building.I got on what I thought was the right bus to go back to my hotel, but went the wrong direction to end of the line, somewhere in the suburbs.
In the evening, I met a student in my 3rd vain attempt to purchase tickets.
Day 4-Outside of Shenyang
Today was my 4th and final attempt to buy a train ticket for the next day. I was not successful, and had to buy an airline ticket from China Northern Airlines for CNY 640.I wanted to call United Airlines to inform them that my minimum connecting time was only an hour or so, but the number in my ticket folder was wrong. Even with the assistance of one of the English speaking ladies in another hotel, I was unable to get the number from directory assistance, because they're closed on Sundays! I ended up calling Citibank's Travel Assistance office collect in Singapore, and they were able to find a number for me.Enroute to my bus stop,I saw a fellow getting his hair cut on the sidewalk by a street barber.
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