2008 - Day 1

Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 1:15 PM

Subject: Day 1 - 5/21/08

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I am taking a rather roundabout way to China this time.  I began booking this trip around 2 months ago and quickly learned I was going to have to get creative or the cost would have been too high to justify.  For example, a round trip business class ticket from Minneapolis to Hong Kong on NWA was over $12,000; nearly double what it was two years ago. With oil prices as they are, airfares have become much more expensive recently, driven at least in part by the cost of jet fuel.  By doing some shopping around on the internet travel sites (Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity, Expedia giving by far the best rates) and starting my trip to Asia from somewhere other than Minnesota, I was able to find a much better deal - $3,700 round trip Vancouver to Hong Kong via Portland and Tokyo.  Ironically, the legs from Portland on are on the same flights I would have taken had I originated in Minneapolis, so I am essentially occupying the same seats for most of the trip, I am just paying a whole lot less for them.  And yes, I could have flown coach for around $2K, but if the company is willing to pay the difference, I am willing to accept the better seat.  No martyr here.

My China travel will include Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Wuxi and Shanghai. I am a bit apprehensive about returning to Wuxi, especially since I will be spending 2 days there this time, not just a few hours like last time. 

 If you remember from last year’s trip, Wuxi is the town that made my eyes burn and had no running water.  I understand the water problem is long since resolved.  I guess calling Wuxi a town is not quite accurate; it is a city of around 4 million, making it about the size of Phoenix or Detroit.  China has numerous large cities which most in the west, including myself have never heard of.  I read somewhere China has more than 300 cities with over 1 million population. By comparison, the US has 51.

The flight to Vancouver was uneventful.  I suspect our flight attendant was a bit tipsy though.  She kept dropping things, couldn’t remember her announcements, and told us to have a nice weekend at the end of the flight – a nice sentiment except for it being Wednesday.

It was dark in Vancouver when I arrived so I really could not see much.  I have not been here since the summer I spent with my Grandparents.  That must have been 1976.  I had forgotten what a multi-cultural place Vancouver is.  There seem to be more signs in Asian languages than there are in English or French.  The people in the airport, both employees and passengers look to hail from every region of the world.  Kind of a little New York really, just a bit cleaner and a whole lot friendlier.

This trip is off to a better start than the last one; at least my luggage arrived in Vancouver with me.  I arrived too late to catch a shuttle to my hotel, so I took a taxi.  The taxi was a Prius driven by an Indian immigrant.  I swear you could plop me down anywhere in the world and I would give you odds my taxi driver would be from India or Pakistan. 

Tomorrow is the long trip across the Pacific, 17 hours of air travel to Hong Kong.