Ramblin' Randy
  • Home
  • Africa
    • Algeria
    • Angola
    • Benin
    • Botswana
    • Burkina Faso
    • Burundi
    • Cameroon
    • Chad
    • Cabo Verde
    • Central African Republic
    • Comoros
    • Congo (Democratic Republic of)
    • Congo (Republic of)
    • Côte d’Ivoire
    • Djibouti
    • Egypt
    • Equatorial Guinea
    • Eritrea
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Gabon
    • The Gambia
    • Ghana
    • Guinea
    • Guinea-Bissau
    • Kenya
    • Lesotho
    • Liberia
    • Libya
    • Madagascar
    • Malawi
    • Mali
    • Mauritania
    • Mauritius
    • Moçambique
    • Morocco
    • Namibia
    • Niger
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • São Tomé e Principe
    • Senegal
    • Seychelles
    • Sierra Leone
    • Somalia
    • Somaliland
    • South Africa
    • South Sudan
    • Spanish Morocco
    • Sudan
    • Tanzania
    • Togo
    • Tunisia
    • Uganda
    • Western Sahara
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Antarctica
  • Asia
    • Afghanistan
    • Armenia
    • Azerbaijan
    • Bangladesh
    • Bhutan
    • Brunei Darussalam
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Georgia
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Japan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • Laos
    • Macau
    • Malaysia
    • Maldives
    • Mongolia
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal
    • North Korea
    • Pakistan
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Taiwan
    • Tajikistan
    • Thailand
    • Timor Leste
    • Turkey (Asian side)
    • Uzbekistan
    • Vietnam
  • Caribbean
    • Antigua
    • The Bahamas
    • Barbados
    • Bonaire
    • Cayman Islands
    • Cuba
    • Curação
    • Dominica
    • Dominican Republic
    • Grenada
    • Guadeloupe
    • Haiti
    • Jamaica
    • Martinique
    • Puerto Rico
    • St. Kitts & Nevis
    • St. Lucia
    • Saint Martin
    • Sint Maarten
    • St. Vincent and The Grenadines
    • Trinidad & Tobago
    • Turks and Caicos
  • Europe
    • Albania
    • Andorra
    • Austria
    • Azores
    • Belarus
    • Belgium
    • Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Bulgaria
    • Croatia
    • Cyprus (Akrotiri & Dhekelia)
    • Cyprus (Southern)
    • Cyprus (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)
    • Czech Republic
    • Denmark
    • England
    • Estonia
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Gibraltar
    • Greece
    • Hungary
    • Iceland
    • Ireland
    • Italy
    • Kosovo
    • Latvia
    • Liechtenstein
    • Lithuania
    • Luxembourg
    • Malta
    • Moldova
    • Monaco
    • Montenegro
    • Netherlands
    • North Macedonia
    • Northern Ireland
    • Norway
    • Poland
    • Portugal
    • Romania
    • Russia
    • San Marino
    • Serbia
    • Slovakia
    • Slovenia
    • Sovereign Military Order of Malta
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Turkey (European side)
    • Ukraine
    • Vatican City
  • Middle East
    • Afghanistan
    • Bahrain
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Jordan
    • Kuwait
    • Lebanon
    • Oman
    • Pakistan
    • Qatar
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Yemen
  • N America
    • Belize
    • Canada
    • Costa Rica
    • El Salvador
    • Guatemala
    • Honduras
    • Mexico
    • Nicaragua
    • Panama
    • United States of America
  • Oceania
    • Australia
    • Fiji
    • French Polynesia
    • Kiribati
    • Nauru
    • New Zealand
    • Palau
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Samoa
    • The Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu
    • Vanuatu
  • S America
    • Argentina
    • Bolivia
    • Brasil
    • Chile
    • Colombia
    • Ecuador
    • French Guiana
    • Guyana
    • Paraguay
    • Peru
    • Suriname
    • Uruguay
    • Venezuela
  • About
    • My Mission
    • About this Website
    • Where I’ve Been
    • Best Of!
    • Sponsor Opportunities and Disclosures
  • “Best Of”
  • Blog
  • Travel Tips
  • Extreme Layovers
  • Contact
  • Prev
  • Next

China

May 29, 2016April 17, 2020 By Ramblin' Randy
Passport, ticket, yen!

Long Time Listener, First Time Caller
It was the moment I’d dreamed about and plotted for almost twenty years. I was in my early twenties when I came up with the plan: I figure I’d never be able to afford a first class ticket to Asia, so I’d sign up for one of those air-mile credit cards and spend every cent possible using the card to stack up miles. And I did. Every trip to the grocery store, every meal out, every pair of socks…everything was paid with my airline credit card. Cashiers looked at me weird when I’d by a 59 cent pack of gum with my card, but a mile is a mile, right?

>>> RELATED: THE ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE CREDIT CARD ARSENALFOR EARNING MEGA MILES <<<

And now, here I am, laying back in Global First, on United Airlines flight 88 from San Francisco to Beijing. The trip had been booked over ten months ago and I thoroughly enjoyed the anticipation, however the last two weeks leading up to take-off had became nearly unbearable…I couldn’t wait. And now, it was finally time!

IMG_3221
I couldn’t believe I was flying to Beijing in first class!
IMG_3222
I was flying in the nose of the plane!
Cheers!

Just Plane Cool
I was in the nose of the double-decker 747, the cockpit above me. The flight was amazing. My seat converted all the way into a flat bed. In addition to the overheads, I had storage compartments for my stuff all around me, plus a million movies and TV shows; I saw some really good ones! And fantastic service including an ice cream sundae trolley. I soaked up every minute of it as we chased the sun west. I had to really focus to understand how we left at 11:15AM on Friday and arrived at 2:20PM on Saturday without ever passing through the dark. I was never good in science.

By the way, this is country #50 for me, and that’s pretty exciting. There are 193 fully-recognized nations in the world, and I’m out to see every last one; so number “50” was definitely a milestone for me. And no, I didn’t plan it this way. Only days ago did I sit down and write out all of the countries I’ve seen to get an updated count. I was pretty jazzed to find out I was currently at 49 and China would be 50…made it even more special.

The meal service begins!
Appetizer.
Soup!
Main course.
Ice cream trolley comin’ through!
And for breakfast…almost here!
Westward Ho!

On The First Day of Asia…
I really did a piss-poor job at researching China before I arrived. Literally, probably the worst job ever for such an important country. However, as you’ll soon read, China was not my main reason for visiting Asia. It was the gateway to another country; that other country the entire reason I was traveling to Asia this time. More on that later.

After landing and passing through immigration, it was a taxi to my hotel—The Great Wall Sheraton–to freshen up quickly before I hit the ground running. With no research in hand, I quickly got directions to one of the few places I knew about: Tiananmen Square. I remember seeing this place on the news when I was a kid, and the historic standoff between one student and a tank…wow! So I was on my way.

There was a metro station just a quarter mile from my hotel; the subway system in Beijing turning out to be a breeze to understand. By the end of the day I knew how to navigate around the city effortlessly. This was awesome!

Hotel bath amenities. It’s the little things!
First time seeing an electronic “Do Not Disturb” sign.
“Fire Escape Hood.” That’s reassuring.
IMG_3429
Metro.
IMG_3422
One of these kids is not like other…

Square Biz
Tiananmen Square was massive. Huge buildings, overpowering statues and lots of people. I should have known a little bit more about the things I was looking at, but I can study them later. There was something awesome and liberating just taking in a walk in such a faraway place…the farthest I’d ever traveled. The sun was shining; it was a beautiful and peaceful afternoon in Beijing. But I’d had a long day traveling. After the square, it was back to the room for some rest.

National Museum of China.
The Forbidden City: This palace complex houses the Palace Museum, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and state residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924.
The Monument to the People’s Heroes is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Day Two
Sunday was my only full day in China and I had a lot to do. I started with a stop at The Great Wall. Because you have to see it, right? I’d been given a tip about a driver who takes people to a much less crowded section of the wall, and I was all about that. I’d seen photos of the thousands of tourists all crammed together on The Great Wall and that didn’t appeal to me whatsoever. But sure enough, bull’s eye: After meeting my driver in the lobby of the hotel and a short drive out of the city, we’d arrived. I was now climbing the steep, stone steps of The Great Wall of China, with almost no one else in sight. I pretty much had the wall to myself, and it was exhilarating.

Heading out of the city Sunday early Sunday morning.
Steep!
Surreal!
A dream come true for me.
Love from China!

Back in Beijing…
I didn’t write about this trip to China until four years after I returned, so some of the details are blurry. I do remember I had a time finding anything edible to eat at the restaurants there. The “Chinese” food in the US, is nothing like real food in China. I remember all sorts of weird stuff on the menu at the couple of restaurants I visited: definitely no Kung-Pao Chicken or Lo Mein available. Luckily, I was able to find some fried rice. I wasn’t daring enough to try much else on the rest of the menu.

That’s gonna be a hard no.
I did have some luck with the dumplings.
But what’s this floating in my soup?
The fried rice should be safe!

Ramblin’ Randy: International Man of Mystery
Okay, now the real reason I was in Beijing. It wasn’t really to “see” Beijing. I was on my way to North Korea. Yes, North Korea!!! I know, this is crazy. I’d been planning this insane trip for months. And the only way into North Korea for an American, was to fly in to Pyongyang from Beijing; you cannot cross into North Korea from South Korea. So yeah, here I was, in Beijing, ready to head into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the next morning. I had a 1PM meeting with my North Korean tour group at The Beijing City Line Hotel. This would be the first time the group would all meet each other, and more importantly, meet our tour guide. It was the last chance to go over the rules and “code of conduct” for North Korea and ask questions before the trip. I’d been super nervous about the trip to North Korea, but this meeting definitely helped eased my mind. I can’t remember what I did afterwards, but it wasn’t much. It was off to Pyongyang the next morning; I had nice stop in Beijing.

I’d come back to China the following year, making stops in Hong Kong and Macau.

This entry was posted in Asia
Share

Related Posts

  • Look Mom, I’m in Mongolia!

    May 9, 2022May 12, 2022
  • Great Success! Kazakhstan!

    May 7, 2022May 13, 2022
  • Protected: #176 ASK FOR FOR ACCESS

    April 17, 2022May 10, 2022

Post navigation

  Ramblin’ on the Radio(s)
North Korea  

10 thoughts on “China”

  • Pingback: South Korea – Ramblin Randy

  • Pingback: Where I’ve Been – Ramblin Randy

  • Pingback: Will You Need a Visa? – Ramblin Randy

  • Pingback: 7 Obscure Airlines You’ll Probably Never Fly In Your Life – Ramblin Randy

  • Pingback: The Mystique of Myanmar – Ramblin' Randy

  • Pingback: Taiwan – Ramblin' Randy

  • Pingback: Panama – Ramblin' Randy

  • Pingback: Mexico – Ramblin' Randy

  • Pingback: “Can’t Believe It’s This Close!” – My Trip to La Paz, Mexico – Ramblin' Randy

  • Pingback: Great Success! Kazakhstan! – Ramblin' Randy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Donde Está Randy?

San Diego, USA

Next Up:

Beirut, Lebanon

Progress:

99 %

Randy has seen:
192 out of 193 countries
(226 TCC)

Social Studies

Recent Comments

  • Ramblin' Randy:

    Thank you my friend!
  • Eff Emm:

    What an interesting read and so much useful information.
  • Ramblin' Randy:

    Ahh thank you so much! I'd love to hear about
  • Evelthon V:

    Randy, great report and it seems things haven't changed in
  • Ramblin' Randy:

    Thank you so much!

Newsletter

Explore:

  • My Mission
  • About this Website
  • About Randy
  • Best Of!
  • 50 Travel Tips
  • Misc.
  • Ramblin’ Links

Recent Posts

  • My Micro Trip to Micronesia
  • Palau…Ask me How!
  • Papua Don’t Preach
  • Solo Mon in the Solomons
  • Yo Quiero Kiribati

Ramblin' Randy Hotel Deals:

Destination

lock icon
Click the lock icon to choose another destination

Check-in date

Tue 28 Mar 2023

Check-out date

Wed 29 Mar 2023
Booking.com

© Ramblin' Randy. All Rights Reserved.