Beijing vs Hohhot - a world apart

After our misadventures in Boston and en route - and the bonus of seeing Sheena, Philippa, Aileen and family - we finally made it to Beijing on Thursday. From the moment we touched down there was a world of difference between Beijing and Inner Mongolia. There were many other foreign flag-carrying big planes at Beijing; there were many full-size luggage conveyor systems; there was clarity about what we were doing and where we should go; there were many people who spoke English with varying degrees of fluency; we weren't pinned into small areas and long confused queues; and (hurrah!) there was not one but several ATMs in the terminal. The first thing I did was get some cash!

Our hotel was also a world apart... When we opened the door to our room we were a little apprehensive after our experience in Hohhot, only to be bowled over by the incredible luxury of a recently refurbished western-style 5 star hotel. The king-size bed is soft! The hotel in Hohhot had Chinese-style small single beds that felt as though they were literally made of a stack of bricks with a thin sheet laid over the top. Sleeping on the carpet would have been more comfortable, but the carpet was so scary that we were afraid to walk barefoot from the bed to the bathroom - at least ten years old, much spat and spilled-upon and *never* been cleaned. The towels in our Beijing hotel are luxuriantly plush and sensually pleasing vs half-size, threadbare and literally full of fist-sized holes in Hohhot. The staff in Beijing speak English - right down to the guy who runs errands for housekeeping. Not a single person in the Hohhot hotel spoke English - not even "hello" from the front desk staff. The Beijing hotel has a full-size bath tub and a separate shower instead of just a tiny shower cubicle that inevitably leaked all over the floor. We were given a key for our hotel room in Beijing, whereas in Hohhot each time we went out we just shut the door, and when we came back had to go to the front desk, write down our room number and explain via pointing that we wanted Housekeeping to open the door for us. To be fair the hotel in Hohhot was relatively clean (other than the carpet) and adequate (other than the bed), but it is a pleasure to be in the lap of luxury for a few days. It's the week of the Lunar New Year so hotels in China are largely empty, and we got a great deal on the Beijing hotel - and we needed a place to sleep in Hohhot. The rest of our hotels on this trip will probably fall between the two extremes.

Overnight in Inner Mongolia

Things took a lot longer than expected in Hohhot. It took time for the BA flight crew to arrange to have the plane refueled (Hohhot is not a regular BA destination, and I was told the captain had to use his credit card to pay for the avgas...). Though we waited and waited, the fog in Beijing didn't lift. After several hours the crew had to rest and it was decided that we would stay in Hohhot overnight. Then it took time to obtain permission for us all to disembark and go through immigration. It was the middle of the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) week, so they had to dig up immigration officers during the holiday. We went inside and milled around, and waited, and sort of queued in a very confused manner, and finally went through immigration. Then we waited again for a bus to take us to a hotel (which turned out to be a < 5 minute walk away), where we queued again to check in. There weren't sufficient rooms, so single travellers were told they had to double up. Luckily we had each other ;-)

All in all, not a great introduction to China - it was cold, we were cranky and tired, we had no local money and there was no ATM, we spoke no Chinese/no one spoke English, we were miles from the town center with no way of getting there, we had no idea when the plane would leave, it was a mystery as to what we would eat - and when the food arrived what it was. Fortunately other passengers were very kind. They let us use their cell phones to call our hotel in Beijing to let them know that we'd been delayed and would arrive the next day; they exchanged money with us so we could buy breakfast and coffee; and they provided entertaining conversation during the endless hours of waiting.

Though disappointed about losing a day in Beijing, we'd been interested in seeing Hohhot itself (top attraction according to our guide book: camel races in June), but unfortunately had no way of getting into the town. When we flew out the next day I did see a temple rising from the dusty plain. This vacation is turning into a tour of unexpected airports - I'll post pictures of Hohhot's in due course.

Unexpected Diversion

(Note - I'm posting notes in a haphazard order, and Peter wants to leave the Internet cafe soon, so next time you read our blog scroll down to read "older" posts that have in fact been posted since you read this - a bit of time travel :-)

Half an hour before we were due to land in Beijing the sun started coming up, but we were flying away from it (i.e. west) rather than towards it. Sure enough a few minutes later the captain announced that there was dense fog in Beijing and all flights were being diverted. We were going to land in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, refuel, and continue our journey once the fog cleared.

(to be continued...)