It’s up and over …most of the time.
The trip from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada to Shenyang, Laioning in China and return is a long one. It usually is about 29 hours from start to finish one way with wait times and long airport lays in Beijing and if there is weather like today’s flights, it’s even longer!!
Today is the return flight. I was up at 4 am Monday December 12 China time ( 4 am seems to be “my” wake time in China) It was that way when we lived there and last year when I visited, and same this year. I’m up and ready…and sad to be going…
We left the hotel at 8:30, arrived at Shenyang Taoxian Airport at 9:30.
Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:15 am but snow and ice conditions in Shenyang meant de icing before we could take off. It was almost 12 before we left and arrived in Beijing at Beijing Capital Airport at 1:30 ish.
Beijing is always a long lay on this trip anyway but when we landed we found out our flight was delayed because of snow in Toronto. An even longer lay over! So we wandered around browsing the shops, enjoyed the quaint spots to have a coffee, had a bowl of wonton soup and a Portuguese egg tart and coffee and had a massage. I opted for a 30 minute foot massage followed by a 15 minute shoulders and neck massage. I curled up under a cozy blanket and had a little nap , it was wonderful!! The guys had a body massage and while they enjoyed it, I don’t think they napped like I did.
Our flight revised time for take off was 19:50 Beijing time but it was 20:50 before we got away. A long 12 hour flight! I learn to pace the time by enjoying the hot meal, watching a movie and sleeping, getting up and down a bit and stretching. This time was great! David and I tried a new strategy seeing it was a Monday flight. We booked a window and an aisle with an empty seat in the middle. It worked this time!!! No body filled the seat and we had more space to stretch and take turns curling up on the seats. This was the best!!! It wasn’t a full flight either so it was a bit quieter.
Mid flight there is a snack of noodles, sandwich and cookies. I used to enjoy the noodles because the hot broth feels great when your throat is so dry. These last few times though I don’t get the noodles because of the salt content. I just carry my thermos bottle filled with hot water. Yep, I’m like the Chinese people. I love my hot water. It really works for so many things.
The flight pattern is generally “up and over “the Arctic and down in to Canada. I remember only one trip we flew over Europe and Russia. It made me nervous that trip because we never did that flight plan before, but I guess occasionally that flight plan is taken depending on air current.
About an hour and a half before landing breakfast is served. Who wants eggs on an airplane? Sorry, not me so I choose the Chinese congee which is like rice porridge with mushrooms. The fresh congee you get in a Chinese home or restaurant is so much better than this, but I prefer it over the eggs and little white sausage.
Then every thing happens quickly. Breakfast cleaned up, paperwork for customs and arrival passed out and needs to be filled out, a quick trip to the WC to wash up and apply a clean face and it’s time to land. The BRUTAL flight is over.
The short flight from Toronto to Halifax is usually a piece of cake, especially if you arrive in time or there’s no weather . Today is Monday December 12th still ( from the future…China time back to Canada time) we arrived at 19:50 lol and were delayed getting to the gate. With only about 20 minutes to make our flight we fast tracked through customs and security running fast all the way!!! Thankfully we had some pretty great Airport Security people.
We arrived at the gate sweaty and out of breath just in time to board. The flight to Halifax was smooth. So happy and thankful to be in Halifax after all the delays, I had to give this bear a quick hug!
The drive home was brutal. The 103 was a mess of ice and snow and very very slippery. Thankfully the guys weren’t driving and we had a chauffeur.
We’re HOME after a VERY long day and My clean fresh bed looks so inviting …Now sleep!!!!
So for now it’s not goodbye…it’s like my driver and friend ALWAYS say…
Then on to Wuai. I didn’t get a lot of pics here. I was busy picking out a couple “Chinese fashions” ( no, not the hats)It’s so hard not to buy these cute outfits and for this reason among others is why I only brought carry on luggage and not a suitcase. We looked at clothes, handbags, watches, Chinese decor items…and bought a few things.
Street food was the way I dealt with my bit of hunger today. A street wrap and sweet potato. The guys opted for McDonalds.
It has been a very full, very busy wonderful week. David was here for networking meetings and so we didn’t get a lot of time together but we both knew that going in to it. Tonight we had dinner together just the two of us. We took the subway to Mix C. I was there earlier in the week by myself and had been wanting to get back at night. WE had a wonderful dinner with jiaozi of course and then took a few pictures outside in the beautiful lights of the city. Ahh…Shenyang! You have my heart. I will miss you. ❤
Then it was back to the hotel and try to stuff my weekly purchases in the carryon that was already full when I came. BUT I did it!
After the wall we headed back to Dandong city. The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, a railway bridge connecting Dandong with Sinuiju is the big attraction to see along the waterfront. The differences between the Chinese and North Korean sides are immense: Dandong is brightly lit, glitzy and filled with people. Construction equipment and modern cars are everywhere, hospitals and train stations are at the expected Chinese levels. Sinuiju, on the other hand, goes completely dark at night, looks run-down and if you ever do see construction activity it’s going to be manual labor with even basic tools seemingly in short supply. Border guard activities are similarly different: While on the North Korean side a lone soldier with an AK47 can be seen shivering in the cold in regular intervals, the Chinese side instead uses FLIR-like camera systems on large poles to keep an overview of activities along the river.
And just one more thing…
Goodnight!
BUT I had to get to Shifu Square ( Government Square)
And Today’s special EVENT was a Seafood hotpot with some members of the hiking group that we used to go out with on the weekend. 3 guys, 3 girls and me. They were thrilled to hear I was back in China and of course wanted to treat me to dinner. Sometimes I feel like I get invited to things like this just so they can have a foreigner sit with them at their table. Unfortunately the 3 ladies that were coming were traveling together and had a fender bender, very common on a day like this. I am so glad we took the subway rather than taxi. Anyway it ended up that I had lunch with the group leader (far right), my Chinese friend and another person I have never met from the club.
One thing I can not get used to is the mixed washrooms, side by side, at these restaurants.
On the way home I took more pics of the lovely snowfall before taking the subway which was sooooooo crowded. No pics of this because I was literally sandwiched between hundreds of people. I kept thinking if anything happened…explosion or whatever…I would never be found. SO MANY PEOPLE!!! That’s what happens on a snow day.
Everyday here is like a gift and I will treasure it in my heart for days to come…or at least until one day I can return?
There is an indoor skating rink at this mall so I spent a little time watching the skating lessons. The little kids are so much fun to watch and you can tell that one day they will be great skaters.
Then just a quick little browse through Zhang lan guan…another market. It wasn’t very busy today and I guess that a lot of the markets are suffering now because of alibaba. EVERYONE is shopping online for EVERYTHING these days!
I took the subway home. It’s much fast then taxi and a lot cheaper. Only 2RMB. It’s the fastest way during evening rush hour and some how the taxis struggle finding Somerset with the taxi card I give them.
I picked up a few things… tea eggs, tomato fruit and bananas, a couple seed squares ( peanut and sesame seed) and a McDonald’s coffee before returning to my hotel. I kinda felt like a Chinese person picking up their daily groceries from the market on their way home for supper.
… and I am relaxing and doing this blog post. Our time is going far too quickly. Tomorrow is Thursday already.
Just An East Coast Girl 