Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
I landed in Beijing at about 20 minutes past eleven in the evening. The Beijing Capital Airport was massive; it may be the largest in the world. The plane taxied from one terminal to the next before arriving at the gate. I think I spent more time taxing the runway than I spent going through customs. The entry into China was completed with great efficiency, young customs officials in tailored blue uniforms sat in a long row of white document stations ready to stamp my visa and open the doors to mainland China. Outside customs I was greeting by a driver holding a white sign with my name on it. Exiting the airport I caught my first breath of Beijing air. It smelled like a combination of soot and bread. The sky was a hazy rose.
My taxi driver was in a hurry to get me to the Backpackers Hotel (No.85,Nan Luo Gu Alley,Dongcheng District Beijing China, www.backpackingchina.com). His Hyundai Accent weaved in and out of the late evening Beijing traffic. On the motorway he would push the car right to the rear of the truck in front of him and then dart forward when the moment struck. The moment struck more often than I thought it would. Off the motorway the roads shrunk consecutively from five lanes, to four, then three, to two and then down to just an alleyway. By the time we reached the hotel we were jousting rickshaws for road supremacy.
My second story room, number 205 at the backpacker's hotel was simple but quite clean. There were two twin beds sandwiching a nightstand with a window overlooking the adjacent tile roofline. The bathroom had a shower, sink and toilet all in one space. I showered off the long plane ride and in the process cleaned the toilet. Surprisingly there was no mold or mildew in the space. Sleep came soon after washing up.
- comments