nyc to hk to bj = 20.5 hours
I was at the laundromat at midnight the night before I left for China because I had to clean my clothes so I could pack them for my 9 AM flight. Honestly I barely got out the door in time. My flight from JFK to Hong Kong was 15.5 hours and could not fall asleep. I flew Cathay Pacific and they had 30+ free new movie choices so I ended up watching one movie after the other like a zombie. My 2 hour layover in Hong Kong before I boarded another 3 hour plane to Beijing was just enough time for me to eat this noodles at the "Taiwan Beef Noodle" restaurant. This beef noodle soup with dark tangy broth will one day catch on in the States when people find out about it.
When I arrived in Beijing, I hailed a cab and set off for the hotel I'd made a reservation with online (and received a confirmation email). After driving around for an hour and asking strangers and other cab drivers, my driver and I discovered that the hotel has since gone out of business! So, there I was, nearly midnight again, without any place to go. I asked the driver to just take me to a cheap hotel that he knew of. He was kind enough to call ahead and got a quote of 160 RMB per night. When I got there, the clerks did not speak English and told me that I could not stay for under 330 RMB a night. I said my friend called and said 160 and they told me that because I am a foreigner I have to pay more. I finally bargained them down to 215 which I was proud of considering they knew I had nowhere else to go!
The view outside my hotel window was pretty cool. As always, the Beijing sky is overcast, but you can still see the rooftops of a hutong neighborhood in the grey light.
-mk
around china, soups
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