Very Interesting day…
Got up at 4 am to take the shuttle at 5 am to the airport and was finish
with checking in and security by 5:30 am. I am flying domestic as my trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka is in
the south of Japan. I am on a Japanese airline (Jetstar) and will transfer to
China Eastern once I am in Fukuoka and then it will be International. My flight was at 6:45 am and I was in Fukuoka at
8:40. My flight to Beijing wasn’t until
2:40 pm so I went and had breakfast and started reading my Lonely Planet book
on China (it has 1045 pages). I
couldn't check in with the airlines until 12:40 so I had a lot of reading time. Finally, it was
announced for Beijing check in. Yea!!!! Once I got up to the counter, I was
told the departure will be delay. Why I asked?
The plane from Beijing has not arrived yet. What, you are waiting on a plane that is
coming from China. Why (I am kind of
worried as this plane will need to be checked out and then turn around going back to Beijing and that is not
good for any vehicle especially a plane!!) Now this airline is shared with JAL
(Japan Airline) and between the two, neither had a plane in Fukuoka. I waited an additional 3 hours (total time 7
hours) for the flight but I made myself useful in that time, I started
e-mailing China Eastern and gave them a piece of my mind. Totally unacceptable!! I finally got on the airplane but by the time
it landed (oh, I had to land in Qingdao for custom clearance and then get back
on the plane to fly to Beijing which made this flight domestic) it was at 11 pm
at night. So myself and two other
passengers (the other passengers got off in Qingdao) was waiting for our luggage and
nothing came out for us. Oh no, ALL of
my clothes were in that suitcase, I didn't pack anything in my backpack. I am thinking this is just perfect so all
three of us went to the baggage counter and the flight attendant said oh, your
luggage is at the International bin, follow me and after 10 minutes of walking
I found my luggage. By this time I was exhausted and had to take a taxi to the
hostel which cost me $60 the same amount that 5 days at the hostel cost
me. Oh well, I was just too tired to
complain. I went to bed and got up the
next day to start my adventure. I found
out that the Forbidden City is closed on Monday, and I had to plan ahead if I
wanted a tour to the Great Wall. But the
guy at the front desk suggested the Summer Palace. So off I went to tackle the subway and go to
the Summer Palace. There were
about a zillion people there and it was hot. But I manage to get a
ticket and went inside. This was the
summer home for the Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century.
Anglo-French vandalizes the palace during the second opium war (1856-1860)
Empress Dowager Cixi launched into a refit in 1888. Foreign troops angered by the Boxer
Rebellion, had another go at torching the Palace in 1900. So by 1949 the Palace was again in disrepair
but they have since maintain the palace and now are charging admission for all
to enjoy. Please see attached pictures:
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| Summer Palace |
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| More of the Palace |
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| This is at the entrance |
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| A zillion people were there |
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| This was uphill not too many people went this way!! |
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| More of the Palace |
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| You keep going up and up |
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| This is a Buddhist Temple Couldn't Take Pictures Inside!!! |
Life Challenge: There
is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to walk through
the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the
mountaintop of our desire….. Nelson
Mandela
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