Day 1

Day 1….

Sunday or Monday…. hard to tell. I wanted this magical line on the map we watched as we were flying to mark the International Date Line…and alas it didn’t. We did see the North Pole and other cities were marked as we watched our journey start. The flight from Chicago to Beijing is a little over 14 hours (for those who wanted to know); in essence we skipped a day (although we will make that up on the back end of the trip, when we relive Saturday…twice). Our flight path took us North from Chicago, over Canada and following the curve of the earth, over Siberia finally to China. As we were landing, those sitting on the left side of the plane could see the Great Wall. Wow…what a visual as we arrive. Much has changed in the last 8 years in Beijing as they prepared for the Olympics. The terminal we arrived at is the new international terminal, and we were greeted with this amazing architectural wonder…and made our way to the ‘foreigner’ line at immigration. As I (and others looked around) time initial impression that China makes on the world, is quite a statement…one that wants everyone to know, they have arrived.

We did arrive without incident. One of our group had a slight problem in Lincoln, but swore to us that was all of the bad travel karma we would have (this would later be tested). Met up with our colleagues and soon friends from Scottsbluff. The flight really is a test in personal endurance…between wanting desperately to sleep, watching current movies, reading & getting up every so often so the swelling in your legs was minimal. As one did laps in the plane you would meet up with others begin to chat and find multiple reasons people travel to China. We arrived in Beijing about 4:00 p.m. on Monday and for the fact that most of us did not sleep much on the plane, we weren’t too tired at all. Our tour guide gave us some random factoids about China…so here your new learning for today.
• Current population in Beijing…40 million (documented or recorded as residents of Beijing), although they figure the population is really around 90 million.
• Beijing’s name was Peking, but changed when the revolution occurred in 1949.
• Roads…I am sure it makes sense if I were to see a map, but Sarah (our tour guide) kept talking about 8 rings (roads) that circle the city…starts in the center, with the Forbidden City and work outward…
• 3.4 million cars in Beijing
• Known as Bicycle Kingdom – about 10 million bikes
• Average size of an apartment in Beijing about 60 square meters…

Our initial impression is one of amazement, bewilderment and awe. For such a large city, it is very well organized, quite clean and very friendly. Our day ended with a dinner in the hotel and early to bed for most of us (except Matt who decided to venture to the “street” to find some “street food”…everything you could possibly want, on a stick!). Looking forward to new experiences, new learning and a better understanding of China, it’s people, culture and how we can bring this back to our students.

Sue