China adventures

I had a lovely send off  and all was well until it was time to go through the departure gate, when S2 became a bit sad, and Granny even sadder.  I was so happy to get a call later, to say that he stopped crying before they left the airport

J2 and I met up and had a reasonably comfortable flight to Shanghai. We had to move from Pudong to Hongqaio for our domestic flight. We found the airport bus without problem and I hoped that we might see something of Shanghai on the trip.  But the route is around the edge and the misty foggy conditions meant that visibility was almost zero.

We got to Hongqaio in good time, which was a mixed blessing as it was hot, humid and crowded.  J2 got stopped at security and had to go back and check her hand luggage through as she had some shampoo that was bigger than 100mls.

Our first sight of Jinan was grey skies, rain and foggy conditions…and this is summer!  It

makes me treasure NZ in winter

Mission Bay with S on the day I left

It felt good to be familiar with Jinan and SEU.  We were met and soon established in our rooms.  I love the energy and bustle of life here, and, of course, the food. We had Sunday to settle in a bit, then it was off at 8:30 to the airport again, but with J9n as well for our flight to Hohhot in Inner Mongolia and another landing through dense cloud into rain. We were the only Europeans on the flight of mainly men.  Maybe they are on business, but they certainly do seem to travel a lot without their women and children.  Noise, smoke and welcome sight of a driver holding up a card with our names.  He was a smiling face, but had not a word of English.  We soon regretted our decision not to have a guide as well, and by the next day when we set off in the ubiquitous white van, we had the charming Sabrina with us, who was fun and a great source of information.

First glimpses of Hohhot were not encouraging.  Wide, busy roads, dreary blocks of uninspiring buildings.  The roads from airports seem as universal as the airports themselves. It was J2’s first real experience of the lack of seat belts and the somewhat different driving style of China.  Our rooms in the Hotel Zhao Jun had a great view of the central city square and a huge TV screen that played very loud advertisements.