Wow, this would be cool if it took 2 hours to get to Beijing from NY or the US. Check out this crazy article for tube travel in the near future. I would go to China a lot more if it only took 2 hours. I am still amazed it only takes 12 hours to get to Shanghai from LA and your half way around the world. The 12 hour flight is not back when you take it 1-2 times each year and plan for the long flight. My schedule for 12 hours, first 1.5 hours first drinks and food service, then movie time 2 hours, then sleep time 4 hours, then exercise and snacks with lots of water 1 hour, then movie time or sleep for 2 hours and finally 1.5 hours for final drinks, food service, customs forms and the excitement of arriving in China.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/futuristic-high-speed-tube-travel-could-york-los-171007828.html?vp=1
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We selected the Redwall Sovereign hotel for our visit to Beijing. It had good reviews and it will be free for us with our points from American Airlines. The in-laws will be joining us from Nanjing for a holiday. The in-laws are happy, my wife is happy so I am the good husband and son in-law! The hotel seems to be in a good location near Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City area. It is not a 5-star hotel but who cares we are only going to be using it for sleeping the rest of the time will be exploring the city. We will be looking for a great local Peking duck restaurant where the locals eat. We will be providing photos and places on this blog during our trip to Beijing.
Reading more reviews for hotels in Beijing and there is a common theme of travelers being scammed by rickshaw drivers. In the scam the driver tells them it will be 3 or 30 RMB but at the destination it jumps to 300 RMB which is crazy, so be careful. Also, never give money before your service is provided, for example, never give money to a taxi, rickshaw, or any service until it is completed or you’re at your destination. It is disappointing to me for my love of China and all the wonderful people I have encountered but again I need to remind myself most tourist areas have scammers around the world. When we did our research for Paris last year, we read all about the pickpockets and scams at the major tourist sites. In Vegas where we live there are many scammers on the Vegas “Strip” and we were walking down on the Strip several months ago for work and a person tried to give me his CD and then wanted to sign it and to give him money, but I read about this scam in Europe and quickly realized I was getting scammed so I quickly gave the CD back (he actually put it in my hand before I knew what was happening). My trip to Moscow, Russia my business associate stated if I wanted to purchase someone let him know first and he would get the best price. Sure enough he took me to a tourist place to buy souvenirs and a vendor tried to scam me and my business friend jumped in and had an argument with the vendor and said he would tell the vendor the price we would pay. I told my wife about the scams in Beijing and she said they won’t scam us and the biggest scam for us is paying foreigner prices. My wife usually has me stay away from her until she negotiates a price for transportation or purchases or massages or whatever there is not a fix price, in most cases prices are negotiable in China. If we are together and I want to buy something usually the same product is available by several vendors and we part ways and she goes to work. Our advice to you in China is that all prices are negotiable and you should be paying about half the first price the vendor states to you. If it is not half the price just walk away and the vendor usually agrees because again the same items are available from different vendors. Just remember it is not the people in China trying to take advantage of you but it is the environment of being in a tourist area which happens all around the world.
We have started our search for hotels in Beijing and we plan on staying near the Tiananmen Square area after reading about all the traffic jams. We plan on using the Metro as much as possible. When we went to Paris, France last year we used the Metro all the time and it was great a 10 day trip to Paris without any taxis. We are searching on Tripadvisor, Expedia, Hotels, Bookings, and agoda for photos and reviews. We will be using our points on American Airlines for free hotels before they expire.
We are reading a lot of reviews with travelers experiencing hard beds. I actually like a firm bed it is great for my back but China is the extreme. We stayed at the in-laws last February for Chinese New Year their beds were bamboo with only a thin blanket on it, so I slept on my side as much as possible. Actually this is typical for China and most hotels will have firm mattresses or bamboo with a thin layer of cushioning, so be aware. Made my first video today and posted on youtube, what a stressful event. Hopefully they will be easier in the future. I created a video for my Strap-n-Tag luggage strap design explaining the advantages of the design. It is a very useful product especially for international travelers. I hope to expand to all my products and travel tips to China. I am excited about my next trip to China in September and planning a Beijing visit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ9RFEGesaI This article is about a Chinese passenger who had a bad experience with United Airlines because they overbooked and he arrived 80 minutes before departure. Welcome to America and the airline industry in general. Unfortunately airlines over book flights all the time but there are two sides to each story. I have experience similar attitudes from American airline companies so I am not surprised and I definitely do not think it was because you are Chinese or any other ethnicity. United Airlines overbooked the flight, shame on them especially for international flights but they needed to make a decision sooner rather than later to get everyone confirmed on the international flight to start the boarding process and paperwork to leave on time. Unfortunately the passenger had traffic problems getting to the airport on time. I would still question did the passenger allow enough time to get to the airport, was the traffic delay more than 1 hour? As with my experience anyone (Chinese or American) getting bumped on a flight are usually NOT to happy and put up some sort of argument. My last trip to China and waiting at the LAX airport a passenger missed her flight on Alaskan Airlines to the northwest and she was so very upset at everyone but it was never her fault for showing up late. In the article the passenger never seemed to get upset and I know I would be very upset especially for an international flight. So to generalize in this article it is Americans is unfair but I would say it is more airlines in general both domestic and international companies.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8257734.html Since my topic yesterday I talked about giving Zippo Lighters as gifts and this brings up a good topic to review in China which is smoking. Smoking is everywhere in China and at some point during your trip you will encounter second hand smoke. Smoking is something you need to get used to in China because you will encounter in most places. The only stay place is on transportation such as buses, trains, and airplanes. Taxi drivers sometimes smoke in the car and if they do kindly ask them to stop if you do not smoke. If you reserve a non-smoking hotel room there could be a good chance it smells like smoke because the previous guest may have not followed the rules. I have encountered smoking in elevators which I thought was extreme. It is custom if you smoke to always handout a cigarette to everyone in your group before you light up. We will hand out cigarettes are a small tips and or kind jester to taxi, bus drivers, restaurant owners, or to anyone who helps us. It goes a long way and usually you get better service. I smoke small cigars during my visits to China mainly to kill the smell of cigarettes because it just saturates your clothes. You will see many Chinese with smoke stain teeth and chain smokes. In the photo I attached it is my father in-law with many cigarettes because when anyone lights up they offer to everyone in the group and he obviously did not finish the cigarettes. We are planning our next trip to china this fall and we are flying into Beijing and we will stay there 4 nights before heading to Nanjing. It is official because last night my wife told her mother that they can join us in Beijing for a holiday. My mother in-law from Nanjing has never been to Beijing but my father in-laws went to Beijing for several days during his journey to work for several months on a roadway. The in-laws will take the bullet train from Nanjing to Beijing. This is very convenient for us because we are bringing with us a lot of Zippo lighters as gifts for my wife’s cousins which they kindly requested during last Chinese New Year. We found out that once you get into China the domestic airlines will not allow lighters even brand new lighters. We called the post office yesterday in China and they confirmed we cannot send lighters from Beijing to Nanjing by mail either. Our friends whom went back last year had lighters with them but could not bring them in the checked luggage from Beijing to Chengdu on the airlines. The zippo lighters are a very popular gift which we bring back to China, because they are made in the USA and most everyone smokes in China. They have many knock offs but having the real thing from an American is a big deal to them. The trip to Beijing is official because we told the in-laws and that means it is a done deal. I learned from my wife many years ago if you bring something up and say maybe or we will go or maybe we will buy, it means it is definite. Which I have learned when I say something it will definitely happen and it is not an option.
We wanted to take the bullet train from Beijing to Nanjing but it is actually cheaper if we book our flights on Air China all on the same ticket. For example, we will fly from Vegas to Beijing and stay several nights then take a flight from Beijing to Nanjing and our return flights from Nanjing to Vegas is actually less than stopping in Beijing on the first part of the trip and taking the bullet train from Beijing to Nanjing. I have been monitoring the flights and anytime you stop your flight in Beijing it is more expensive than if it has another flight to another destination. Now the fun part begins to research hotels and sights to see in Beijing and my wife’s favorite of eating new food. She is a foodie to the tenth degree; she likes most foods and will try anything. She likes durian and real stinky tofu. I can be around her when she eats durian but stinky tofu NO WAY! I am not talking about the fried stink tofu but the porridge type stinky tofu. This article is about more pain maybe better for you and a perfect example is a Chinese foot massage. I would recommend a Chinese Foot massage for any visitors to China. You will be walking a lot sightseeing and you should give your body a rest and enjoy this cultural activity. If it is your first time with a Chinese foot massage you are in for a surprise because it feels like they are breaking your feet, it is painful but after a few minutes it is relief and you want more which is directly related to this article. My first foot massage I thought why would anyone like this it hurts too much but after the experience your feet and body feels great. I enjoyed it so much I went back in the evening for my second foot massage of the day, it was so good.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130522-why-you-might-prefer-more-pain There is a new cool Business Blog in China, see link. China is changing all the time and new blogs are opening up it just shows China is not a closed society anymore. Many websites are blocked by the government but slowly and surely the websites will start to open up over time, it is just a manner of time. There are so many users on the internet and cell phones the information gets around China so fast. It is funny to see my wife’s older relatives with cell phones and they use them better than my mother in America!
http://paper.li/chinablogtweets/china-business-tweeps |
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September 2019
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