Students at the Wushu Festival in the Henan Shaolin Temple. The students work tirelessly to become this good.
Tag Archives: Travel
Chinese Health Concerns
17 NovYou know you drink too much soda when . . . the gas station cashier gives you a free bottle of water and looks disapprovingly at your drink selection. All the while telling you, “tsk tsk . . . water have more power.” 0_0
Birthday Nail Salon Trip
28 Sep
It was my mom’s birthday yesterday so we both got our nails done. The stores wanted a really high price, so we stopped at a small table on the street managed by a couple of students. I love the colors, and it only cost about $5 each! 0_0
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
8 SepSeptember 8th was the day the Chinese celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, kind of their version of Thanksgiving. It’s a day where they appreciate the harvests and eat yummy mooncakes (amongst other foods) with their families, all while gazing at the moon. One of my students recommended that I drink black tea while eating the mooncake because it (enhanced the natural flavor and burns off the sugar). It did go might well together, if I say so myself 🙂
My mooncake tasted a lot like a fig newton, but if you want to celebrate your own Mid-Autumn Festival, there are many many different kinds of mooncakes to try!
First Trip to Zhengzhou
7 SepLast Thursday we took our first trip into Zhengzhou,
a large city about 1 hours drive from Xinzheng, my new hometown. Xinzheng is considered a rural farming town out here in China, but it actually boasts of about 600,000 people living here. While it has a ton of normal shopping, the prices can be a little high and the variety of items is small. Consequently, a lot of the foreigners and students prefer to go into the much larger Zhengzhou (8 Million Inhabitants ~ the size of New York City) for a greater selection of products and more opportunities for bartering prices down.
One of the things Zhengzhou offers that Xinzheng doesn’t is a far larger number or walk-in clinics, including one that works solely on Job Physicals or Physicals required by Visa Applications. So this past week we were sent into Zhengzhou to visit the clinic to have our physicals for the Permanent Residency. This was really our first major foray outside of the College Campus, since we have been so busy moving in and settling down. It didn’t help that classes were starting last Monday and we had to instantly jump into lesson planning. But all that aside, this was really our first adventure and we soaked up every minute of it. I’ll post more about the physical itself later, but here are a few things we noticed in our drive through the city:
The Traffic is INSANE!
Two lane roads that suddenly have five lanes of cars, scooter and taxis driving down the sidewalks, huge poles holding up the overpasses above suddenly appearing in the middle of a driving lane, no merging lanes, and a complete disregard for any road signs contributes to what seems like absolute chaos. It’s truly amazing that there are not more accidents than we saw. There are NO traffic laws ~ at one point we had a four way corner with cars going from each corner all at the same time, crossing three lanes of traffic in any given direction. The only exception is that you are responsible for everything in front of you. Conversely, you don’t have to look behind you at all, whoever is behind you is responsible for not hitting you. It’s pretty confusing, but they work it out. Makes for a lot of butting into lines.
Crazy Drivers ignoring the lanes
I couldn’t snap fast enough to get the hold picture, but these two lanes meet at the bottom.
It doesn’t help that they tell you how long til the light changes. All the cars just get impatient and jump the light.
Scooters and bikes take up a shocking amount of room!
Airline Reviews: Air China
26 Aug 
Date:
2014
Airline:
Air China (China Air)–International and Domestic (2 flights ~ IAD to PEK and PEK to CGO).
Plane:
Pre-flight Interactions:
My university paid for and arranged the flight tickets, so I have no idea how that process went down. We just got the e-ticket confirmation and got ready to go.
The best part of Air China though came on the transfer from United to Air China in Washington, DC. You can read all about the horror story with United here, but long story short I accidentally checked the carry-on bag that had my passport in it at the request of United. Upon realizing the issue, I spent 2.5 hours being given the run-around by United as to where my suitcases were and how to access my passport. Finally, I abandoned the idea of getting any help from them and went to the Air China desk. I was instantly directed to the manager (it took about 4 minutes from reaching the busy counter for them to get me through to someone who could help ~ great timing), to whom I explained the issue and asked if they could tell me when they received the suitcases from United so I could find my passport in them. The manager informed me that the plane would be leaving shortly, but that if I went ahead and checked in and went through security, she would personally bring the bags to my gate (since the bags had been through security I couldn’t touch them, but she would let me point to the pocket where it was).
I hurried on ahead and made it to the gates with no time to spare. They were actually holding the plane for us to run ahead, they had my passport in hand already when I got there, suitcases were on the plane, and I was escorted through all in about 10 minutes. The entire interactions with them (outside of security) only took about 25 minutes, so much more satisfying than the 2.5 hours with United where I hadn’t gotten anywhere. The flight attendants / employees were amazingly gracious about the whole situation, and everything was far less stressful than my experience with United had been.
Baggage Allowance:
Carry-On ~ 21″ x 15″ x “7 at less than 11 lbs.
Checked ~ 62″ linear (70 lbs for First/Business; 50 lbs for Economy)
On international flights, First/Business Class customers get 2 free carry on bags, and Economy gets 1. We were each carrying on us a carry-on bag, a full backpack, and random odds and ends (I was lugging a pillow in a suction bag, a book, my drink, etc.). Luckily, we did end up checking our carry-on bags clear through for free due to United’s original lack of space in their compartments. United wasn’t actually going to pay for that later (DC United didn’t want to pay for what Denver’s United had promised to cover), but after we spoke with Air China, they called up a manager who worked it out and got the carry-ons checked clear through—another area where Air China pulled through when United failed.
On international flights, First/Business Class customers get 2 free checked bags that can weigh as much as 70lbs each; Economy customers get 2 free check bags weighing 50lbs or less each.
Boarding:
Boarding was a little touch-and-go, perhaps through no fault of their own. I already described the whole thing about boarding in DC, the rest of which went pretty well. The poor flight attendant guy didn’t realize that I was packing a couple layers of clothes (trying to save on weight 😛 ) and attempted to give me one of the seat belt extenders. He really was very discreet about it all, and was attempting to be kind. When I showed that I didn’t need it though, it got him flustered, and our trip went a little downhill from there. It probably didn’t help that he later accidentally walked into the bathroom on me when the lock didn’t quite click correctly or that the bad turbulence made him and me crash and spill my drink on me. Honestly, I don’t think he could have handled it any more pleasantly than he tried to do and none of it was his fault. It really just wasn’t our flight 🙂
Continue reading
Airline Reviews: United Airlines
26 Aug
Date:
2014
Airline:
United Airlines (United)–Domestic (1 flight) from DEN to IAD.
Plane:
Pre-flight Interactions:
My university paid for and arranged the flight tickets, so I have no idea how that process went down. We just got the e-ticket confirmation and got ready to go. I will say that when I got to the airport, I had’t had time to check my baggage weight. Since I was there all night, the attendants at the Check-In counter allowed me to weigh my bags on their scales while no one was in line. They also looked up our flight information during off hours because we were concerned about when we had to check our luggage.
Baggage Allowance:
First/Business Class: 70lbs and 62 linear inches per bag
Economy: 50lbs and 62 linear inches per bag
You can find all the rules here, but generally you get a personal item (I always make it a backpack because it counts as a purse but is bigger), a carry-on, and 0-1 checked bags. United pretty much screwed us on this one though.
There were three problems with how they handled everything. First of all, everyone was charged $100 per bag for all second bags. However, their website states that the same flight should charge $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second. It should only cost $100 for “oversized bags.” We did not have oversized bags (remember, I weighed them on their scales). This means they cheated each person out of $40. NOT OKAY.
Second, The deal is usually that if you are flying internationally (and we were), all airlines honor the baggage requirements/allowance of the airline with the longest flight (if tickets are all bought together–not separately). For contracted airlines, this is often a rule. For unconnected airlines, it is typically a courtesy. We were flying Air China, which allows 2 checked suitcases for our international flight. United refused to abide by the traditional courtesy even after we explained that we were all moving to China and needed the expected courtesy extended. They were very uncooperative.
Third, United attendants in Denver agreed that United would pay for our carry on suitcases clear through to our final destination. However, when we reached the transfer point in DC, they suddenly didn’t want to stand by that promise and we were looking at additional charges from Air China because United had backed out. It was only after we spoke with Air China, that the Air China attendants called up a manager who worked it out and got the carry-ons checked clear through—another area where Air China pulled through when United failed. Read on for the rest of that debacle.
Boarding:
Leaving Iowa
19 AugHi everyone! Sorry for being such an absent friend recently. Honestly, packing and preparing for the move was absolutely crazy ~ 6 weeks of garage sales and two weeks of all-nighters packing and cleaning and preparing items for storage. Even so, I don’t think things actually got real until the girl walked away with my bed. Then for the next week, I was living off the floor ~ sleeping on pillows and makeshift blankets. Between that and no internet since July 31, I was soooo ready to hit the road 🙂 It has been just mind and body-exhausting! 0_0
We finally finished everything after 72 hours straight working on what was left and we headed out of Iowa City at 4:06 in the morning. Lol, we were so exhausted we kept having to change drivers to keep ourselves awake. . . we were playing a question game and it took my mom 16 minutes to think through “What is your favorite flower” even though she’s worked with them all her life. 😛
Then, after an 8 hour drive, we arrived yesterday in Fort Hays, Kansas at the local Sleep Inn. It’s a lovely hotel, has a swimming pool, hot tub, and we even got a room with a lovely little sitting area ~ perfect for finishing up the last minute law and personal chores before leaving the country.
One of which includes finding out how to get my medication (got too busy to buy it before). Anyone know whether you can buy Zantac (Ranitidine), Claritin (Loratidine) and Benedryl in China? If not, I’ll just pick some up in Wal-Mart tomorrow or the next day. 🙂
On a related note, you should see how much we brought with us still. The pile is so enormous, I took a picture for posterity! 
We finally moved down from a filled 3-bedroom home to a truck full coming from Iowa to Missouri. Then we met up with my aunt and further compacted everything into a jeep. Now, I have to figure out how to narrow it all down to just two suitcases and a carry on.
A little worried about the carry on, since we are flying with Air China which has a 11 lb limit on the carry on. I’ll probably be over, but I’ve been told that they are not as rigid about that rule as long as you can pick it up and fit it into the overhead container. Here’s to crossing our fingers. . . . 🙂
We were very happy to get our VISAs and Passports on time last week; several members of the team have yet to receive theirs and they are slowly panicking. We’ve been told though that everything should work out. Apparently, a whole bunch of people supposed to prepare and sign the papers for the VISAs went on vacation and it took a little longer than expected to get everything working again. Still, mom and I have ours so we are ready and raring to go!
We leave Hays, Kansas on August 22 and take a bus down to Denver. Then our Flight Schedule is:
- Denver to Washington DC (August 23, 8:18 am – August 23,1:40 pm) on United Airlines 1297.
- Washington DC to Beijing (August 23, 5:00 pm – August 24, 6:40 pm) on Air China 818.
- Beijing to Zhengzhou (August 24, 9:30 pm – August 24, 11:05 pm) on Air China 1331.
If you look at a flight map, you’ll see that our DC-Beijing flight actually goes over the Arctic! Mom and I have tickets that are a little unique from the rest of the group since they ran out of space for four of us on the plane that the majority are taking on the evening of the 22nd. So the four of us get to spend the night in a hotel and then start off early the next morning which should be pretty nice.
Can’t wait for the exciting moment of stepping onto the plane! I’ll post photos and keep everyone updated! 🙂
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
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Deceptively Blonde 