November 18, 2007

One year ago today, we boarded another flight - heading to Shenyang from Beijing. It was supposed to be easy... but in my world, NOTHING is EVER as planned. Our guides always had to leave us at the ticket counters because of security, so moving through the airport process, finding gates, listening for boarding calls, etc. had an extra element of stress given the fact that we don't speak Chinese. But, we always made it ok, eventually. Bryant usually lost his drink though, just ask him :-).

As we were boarding the flight to Shenyang, however, the stewards insisted that we check most of our carry on luggage as they claimed there was not enough room in the overhead compartments. Given all the important documents, cameras, laptop, and all those good things, checking bags always has its own element of fear, but we complied as best we could.

We landed in Shenyang, located all our bags, and began the search for our next guide at the freezing cold airport. He was not to be found. Everyone was anxious to give us a ride somewhere, but the language barrier was a little unnerving. Finally, after an hour or two (that seemed like eternity) waiting, we called the guide in Beijing. She told us to find a cab driver and she would instruct him as to our hotel location.

With eight giant suitcases and four people, no single cab could accommodate us, so we ended up in two cabs. Ken and Alex were in the back cab. Bryant and I were in the front one. Racing through the streets, knowing that we weren't together, was terrifying. I had visions of a bad Brad Pitt/George Clooney movie where they tied us up in a basement and held us for ransom as some poor Americans. It was late in the day, so the sky was gloomy and gray. It was unbelievably cold there too. The drive between the airport and our hotel was very desolate with lots of trees and "huts" along the road.

Finally, we re-entered an urban area. The traffic and huge numbers of people were overwhelming. I still cannot fathom how people don't get run over all the time! We eventually arrived at our hotel. Without a guide, checking in was a little difficult. Shenyang was not overpopulated with English speaking folks as its not a "tourist" spot. I am fairly certain that we were among the only people staying in this enormous hotel that did not speak Chinese fluently. We got up to our room and collapsed. I think I could have used some Ativan and Pepto Bismal after the harrowing experience. There was a crib in our room, however, waiting for the little girl who would be coming to us in the morning.... provided our guide showed up to get us there :-).