11.10.2005
The calm before the storm….

I made a point to arrive a little early – I had some business to handle, and better do it beforehand for I knew my brain would be worthless after this event.

So, after 21 hours of traveling, I landed at Beijing’s Capital International Airport on a glorious Thursday am. Sure enough as friends have warned, there were threats of trouble at customs. The agent glared and insisted that I speak Chinese, but I decided to do my Valley Girl impression, and I think it was just too too painful for his ears to keep me any longer.

I, like, sooo tooootally dislike customs! Heehee!

So, I skipped outside where beautiful rays of sunshine were awaiting. Like an encore of my VCR trip, heaven smiled upon us once again and shielded us from the miserable cold that was supposed to have set in to the city by now. Remember all those pre-Beijing postings warning of the severe cold weather? C'mon...…fess up, which one of you said that Beijing is colder than Korea this time of the year? Hahaha. Well…, I heeded all your warnings and packed a 31kg suitcase of turtlenecks, parkas, and all things warm and bulky. Ended up the laughing stock of the trip for bringing the largest suitcase brought by any BYJ fan!! Hhmmpft, thanks a lot guys!! Hahaha. Just kidding. But,…. what was I gonna do? So........ this is my destiny……to greet YJ looking like a roly-poly, in a Michelin tire outfit??!!! Can’t bear the thought!

Anyway, the long plane ride afforded me with more than enough time to scour though my travel guide. Good thing, too. Intentional or not, turns out Beijing’s taxi system is more confusing than calculus (at least according to the travel books).

See, you usually just catch an ordinary, average sized red cab. That is, unless you wish to be more economical and opt for the smaller green ones. Unless of course, if you’re tall or need more room, then you try to catch the red citroens for slightly more money. And then there are some other even bigger foreign made ones for a even higher rate. All legit cabs should have their rates posted in the rear window somewhere. Unless of course, you’re traveling between 11pm – 6am, during which they slap on a 20% surcharge then.
Huh?
You follow?
Bottom line - just make sure the meter is running and he’s not driving you in circles.

Thank goodness I had a really smooth cab ride to Beijing Hotel for 80 RMB. Fair market price. One of our Japanese sisters/busmates unknowingly paid for 1000 RMB for the same trip! Oh man!
So sorry, sis Hiromi!

As my cab pulled up to the hotel entrance, my driver muttered, “oh, there’s some VIP that just pulled up in front of us,” referring to a limo directly ahead.
What??? Imagination runs wild –could it be the BOF people? Don’t some of them usually arrive early ahead of schedule? I get so silly, sometimes.
One thing I’m sure you can relate to as a BYJ fan is that your antennas suddenly become very fine-tined, sirens firing off left and right in your head for every silly possibility. Every little thing holds the promise of something wonderful, no matter how improbable.
When you think of it, as long as you don’t take it too seriously, it’s a very positive way of thinking and living. Just wonderful. But, no, I was dead wrong as usual. Just some important business people for some FEAAV meeting.

When I first checked in to Beijing Hotel, I was really concerned about being at the wrong place. So quiet and so little activity… no hint whatsoever of the crazy transformation that’s about to take place within 24hrs. I imagined big welcome banners and posters like they had in Taiwan, but found none after an intense search. I’m thinking to myself, “they probably don’t want to imitate the other outings. Must have something wonderful up their sleeve.”

These are pics of the hotel lobby, before the BYJ storm. Fairly elegant lobby, I must add.
Beijing Hotel, of course, is the first and therefore oldest hotel in Bejing. It is nice in its own right, but not the fanciest, grandest hotel in the city. Look like YJ sticks to his usual habits of picking locations with historical significance. So…., we’re staying at the same hotel as YJ? Not exactly. This hotel has different sections constructed in different eras - YJ's enters and exits through a grander Tower B, see?
Can you count to 6? Yes, he stayed in that grand penthouse with the interconnecting rooms up there on the left.

By the pm, the hotel was still eerily quiet. I’m really getting nervous now. So, I went to do some sightseeing to distract myself. Since Tiananmen square is supposed to be nearby, I went for a look. The Quilt postings of the People’s Hall were so impressive - I especially wanted to check out the architecture in its full grandeur before it gets packed with people at the press conference. This was of course before the venue change was known to me.

Got directions from the concierge to walk there – the gentleman at the counter said, “about 3 blocks.” Easy! So I set off.
OK, folks. But why didn’t anyone tell me that each block in these parts of town is like 6 blocks in the US??

Gee, I guess I should’ve known. Beijing is afterall known for it’s broad, sweeping flat open spaces. Huhhhhhhh…………ok, a little bit of exaggeration, but it did take a long time and the sun was actually almost setting when I got there. Managed to get these pics, but it was too late, and the lady at the gate refused to let me through to see the People’s Hall! Sob, sob!

(Tiananmen Tower above ) (Monument to People's Heroes on the right)

Although already late, this place is still bustling with tourists from all over the world. Enjoyed some very interesting people-watching, before heading back. Yes, I walked the same 18 blocks, ooops, I mean 3 blocks, back to the hotel. :)

Wow! Is this really the same hotel? My jaw dropped as bus after bus sputtered past me – I counted a total of 6 in a row, dropping off Japanese sisters & families! Thank you, you all - What an amazing show of support! Thank heavens for all of you for coming all this way and energizing up the place! Man, there's such a crowd waiting to use the elevators, I decided to come back later.