I find it funny we still refer to China as the Far East. Living in Western Canada, China is really Further West. Does crossing the International Dateline change the compass? Do the Chinese view Canada as the Far East? I know these are silly questions but food for thought.
Our last day (Wednesday) in Harbin was a morning really. We were up and had breakfast the minute the dinning room opened at 7:00. The staff had Glen's toast in the toaster as soon as he walked in. Talk about good service. I knew my next breakfast would not be as tasty or as fresh.
Chun-Xiao and Siyao were waiting as we finished and Chun-Xiao gave us a gift thanking us for coming to China. We gave her the pin we'd bought telling her we wished we'd brought something for all our translators, guides, and drivers.
A car service took us to the airport with Chun-Xiao, Siyao and me in the back seat while Glen chewed his nails in the front. He told me later the driver drove up the exit ramp of a major highway (while cars flashed their lights), did a u-turn, and pulled in front of a line of speeding cars. He saw his whole life pass before his eyes.
It took us an hour to get to the airport and during that time we again thanked the girls for a wonderful visit. I told Chun-Xiao to thank David especially for the time he spent with me. Siyao didn't know who I was talking about until Chun-Xiao explained that David was really Zhen Hong. I told them that Chinese in Canada often take Western names. They were intrigued with the idea so they asked me to choose one for them. That was an honour but I felt it best if they picked their own. They both watch popular American TV (Lost, Desperate Housewives) so know many Western names. I suggested they begin with what their Chinese names meant. Xiao means morning and Chun can be spring or early. I told Chun-Xiao that a popular girl's name meaning the same was Dawn. Siyao said hers meant beautiful jewel. When she checked the Chinese-English dictionary on her phone, it said it meant jade which I said was a girl's name in Canada. They then went through some of the names they liked trying to say them and giggling while doing so. Chun-Xiao has since written to tell me she has chosen Aurora as her Western name which can mean beautiful dawn.
They dropped us off at the airport and we headed inside. From Harbin to Beijing we were slated to fly Air China but after our agent discussed our ticket with the first class agent, the latter explained our flight was cancelled. The next one would mean too tight a connection time. He escorted Glen to a ticket desk and they spent 10 minutes issuing us tickets for a Hainan Airlines flight that left 30 minutes after our original flight did (no money exchanged hands). We felt this would work as we'd still have 3 hours in Beijing to make our connection. The only problem was the Hainan plane landed at Terminal 1 and Air Canada flew from Terminal 3. Still, our helpful agent felt we could make the connection easily so we booked that flight.
We returned and again tried to get our boarding passes. Only Glen's ticket was honoured so we were waved aside so others in line could be helped. The next couple was from Calgary and they had the same problem. She could speak Chinese and we explained how we solved the problem. They figured that would work for them as well. Meanwhile, my boarding pass appeared so we were good to go. We said goodbye to our new friends telling them we'd talk to them at the gate. The wife was an MD who graduated from Harbin Medical University so she wanted to know what Glen's conference had been about. However, we were never to see them again.
As we waited at the gate, I told Glen I had three wishes. One that a plane would appear, two that we'd arrive in Beijing in time, and three we'd board the flight to Vancouver. I was not worried about myself but knew he had a full day of meetings on Thursday and would be leaving for New Orleans on Saturday. He told me I worried too much.
I know worrying doesn't change anything but it's what I do. Our Hainan plane was 30 minutes late landing so we left an hour later than planned but leave we did. It is a two hour flight to Beijing and partway through, they served lunch. It was beef-flavoured noodles. We were the only Caucasians on the flight but no one got chopsticks. Eating noodles with a plastic fork is not easy.
As we flew over the mountains, it was like we were looking down at a Chinese black-ink painting with the clouds shrouding them with watery brushstrokes. Very eerie.
We landed in Beijing to temps around 30ºC and the air the colour of bronze. No wonder the athletes at the 2008 Olympics worried about air quality. However, we didn't have time to think about it as we had to retrieve our luggage and catch a shuttle bus to Terminal 3. I was all for walking but then the bus came and we hopped on board. It was jammed packed and we had to stand but it was much better than dragging our suitcases.
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the International Terminal. It is not connected to Terminal 1 so walking was never an option. We got checked it, went through customs and security and found our gate. We arrived with an hour to spare so decided to check out the duty free shops. Each one (and there are many) offers one type of item for sale. We passed one devoted to handbags, one for perfume, another for alcohol, a tea shop, and a tobacco place. The latter drew Glen and he bought his favourite Cuban cigars for half the price he'd pay in Canada.
I wanted some jade jewellery but not expensive stuff so went to a store that seemed to offer a variety of souvenirs. Here I found some pieces I liked. The girl spoke English and we quickly made our transaction (all cash). They did not require my passport (see the No Passport, No Purchase blog entry) but Glen was asked for his. We returned to the gate, sat down and they called us to board. It was 45 minutes before the flight was due to leave so the man in the Harbin airport had been right.
The flight home was long but it being night, we slept except for the two hours when a one year old boy cried. His parents finally walked the aisles with him until he fell asleep and so did everyone else in our section. We arrived in Vancouver and did a route march to our domestic gate. We went through customs, picked up our luggage, passed into the transition area, put our luggage on a belt and then went through security (I guess they don't trust foreign airport security). Our plane was delayed so again we waited but it was worth it as we had a beautiful view of Mt. Baker (above photo) as we took off. Seeing it had us wishing we were flying to Victoria rather than Calgary.
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