The rather odd design of the international terminals at Beijing.
After passing numerous terminals, apparently laid out in a linear fashion, we pulled up at our gate and two air bridges started to move towards our aircraft – the front one for First and Club World passengers, the other for the remaining passengers. I was off the aircraft pretty smartly and I arrived at immigration whilst it was relatively quiet.
Very soon, I was following the signs for 'Baggage Reclaim' which, to my surprise, instructed passengers to catch a driverless train to another location. The station was the usual island platform with Platform Edge Doors, similar to the arrangement I'd seen at Heathrow. There was a train in the right hand platform, out of use. Presently another train arrived on the left hand platform and all the waiting passengers piled in. This line was overground and it was definitely raining. After a minute or two we arrived at a Domestic Terminal where the train waited while a prerecorded voice told us (in Chinese and English) to stay on the train. After another rapid journey, we arrived at our destination and I followed the signs (and the other passengers) to a huge Baggage Hall. We waited (at carousel 37, I think) and after a few minutes, bags started to appear intermittently. Fortunately, it wasn't long before my bag popped out. I walked straight through the Green Channel at Customs and into the Arrivals Hall. There, amongst the long row of 'meeters and greeters' was a young man holding up a printed 'Jan Ford' sign. The young man said that I was booked on the domestic flight to Xining and that we would take a car a few kilometres to the domestic terminal. Outside, there was a car and driver waiting. The rain had stopped but everyone appeared to be clutching umbrellas.
In the car, I was presented with my 'Special Permit' for Tibet. I was now officially the sole member of Travel Group Number TRZ130710.
The essential 'Special Permit' allowing travel to Tibet.
We were soon at the terminal and I was glad of my guide, Eric, who led us through crowds of passengers to the carpeted upper class check-in lounge for the China Southern airline. I'm still confused – they seem to have both 'VIP Class' and 'First Class' but, apparently, I was travelling first class. After checking in one bag, we went back to the main check in hall, with my checked bag being taken by a young porter. Once he'd left the bag at a normal check-in desk, my guide directed me to security and said goodbye. Of course, all my hand baggage was X-rayed and I passed through a metal detector arch leading to a very thorough, but not unfriendly, 'frisking' by a young lady with a hand-held 'wand'. I made my way towards the departure gate, clutching my invitation to the VIP lounge. When I got to the lounge, my boarding pass told them I was actually first class and they directed me to a second lounge nearby. I'd had to remove my computer from my shoulder bag for X-ray and I was still carrying it separately, so I went into the washroom intending to re-pack it. However, somehow the computer got left behind in the washroom. Fortunately, within a minute or two, one of the young ladies on the reception desk came to me, enquiring about a computer. "Yes", I replied confidently, "I have one in my bag here". I opened the bag – oops! No computer. I still can't believe I was confused enough to leave it behind but the computer and I were re-united so it was smiles all round.
Very soon, one of the girls in the lounge prompted me to make my way to gate 25H for China Southern flight CZ6994 to Xining (XNN). There were only half a dozen people waiting and I was asked to join them. After a minute or two, my small group was ushered outside onto a 'VIP Bus' and we were each presented with a credit card sized Boarding Pass Confirmation Card. We had quite a long drive across the airport until we found our A319/A320 aircraft (I'm not sure which – even the safety instructions on board listed both types). The 'front cabin' was arranged 2+2 for just eight passengers, with curtains dividing it from the economy seats arranged 3+3 behind. I was in aisle seat 2H. It appeared that we were first to board – the remaining passengers arrived later and we took off a little after noon. I hadn't realised the flight to Xining would be over two hours. Apparently, Xining is about 2,000 km from Beijing and Lhasa a further 2,000 km beyond Xining. The two lady cabin attendants looked after us well and by mid-afternoon we crossed a fairly mountainous region and came into the airport at Xining.
Coming in on a domestic flight, there were no formalities so it was straight into the Baggage Hall – a more modest affair with just two belts. Whilst waiting for the bag, I could see the row of 'meeters and greeters' so I located the young girl displaying my name and, by signalling, indicated I'd just be a short while. The bag arrived, I met my guide, Co-Co, and we went outside to join my car and lady driver. It was quite warm, but very overcast. We set off for what I was told would be a 40 minute drive to my hotel. The area was quite hilly, with numerous excavations revealing a sandy soil. Building work seemed to be going on everywhere, either roads perched on delicate concrete bridges criss-crossing the area or skyscraper apartment blocks. We were running parallel to an electrified railway line and we seemed to pass frequent freight trains.
Traffic grew heavier as we came to Xining city. The centre was a riot of tower blocks in strange, contrasting styles. My guide said the population was around two million but, looking at the scale of things, it was hard not to imagine it was higher. We pulled up at the multi-storey Yinlong Hotel. This claims to be the first 5-star hotel in Qinghai Province. There was a slight hiccup as I was not expected at Reception. I sat on a sofa in the lounge whilst my guide pursued earnest discussions with the reception staff and numerous telephone calls on her mobile. As you might have guessed, almost everyone (it appears) has some sort of I-phone lookalike almost permanently stuck to their ear. Eventually, matters were resolved and I was presented with a credit-card shaped electronic 'key' for room 519. My guide directed me to the lifts and we said 'goodbye' until the following day.
The room was of a good standard such as you can find all over the world. My room overlooked a park with the tall buildings of the city centre just on the other side of the park. After a rest, I decided to have a walk to see a little more. In an hour, I'd collected a bewildering array of impressions, some of which I tried to capture with my camera. I was also exhausted and returned to the hotel where I took a simple evening meal in the lobby restaurant – the 'Paris-time Western Restaurant'. This restaurant had the nearest menu to Western-style but the hotel had seven other restaurants, including the 'Xing Yue Islamic Restaurant' (I'd noticed at least three mosques on the way in from the airport).
I managed to get some internet connectivity in the evening but it was very selective in what it would let me look at. And so ended my first day in China. The next day, I was to travel on to Tibet by train.
My Pictures
Beijing Airport.
Xining Airport.
Railways around Xining, China.
Xining, China.
Yinlong Hotel, Xining, China.
