This was my third and last trip to China this year and again I found myself flying the old worn Boeing 767 direct flight to Beijing. I truly believe in direct flights from Seattle, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have much choice from Delta when it comes to flying direct to China. The last few international flights I have flown I have been fortunate enough to get upgraded to first class; this makes a huge difference when you are on an 11 hour flight. Leaving customs with my one piece of luggage and heading out to the taxi line I got that familiar sniff of Beijing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nasty polluted air. <\/p>\n
Delta has one of the latest time-slots for landing at the Beijing Capital Airport, which usually lands around 11:00 p.m., but coming in late does have advantages…a short taxi line and considerable less traffic. The taxi line was maybe a 5 minute wait and when it was my turn, the airport taxi porter pointed me towards an unofficial taxi or a non-metered taxi. I quickly bellowed out bullshit and a few other 4 letter words; he got the message that I was only driving off in an official metered taxi! I am not your usual blue-eyed tourist and I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about to let these local yokels scam me. China is on a national holiday and if I was actually leaving the airport during the day, it would have taken me at least one hour to my downtown hotel, but…at 11:30 p.m. it was only a 15 minute cab ride. <\/p>\n
The next day started off with a huge buffet breakfast and an hour workout at in the hotel gym. I was very surprised when I walked out for the first time to catch a taxi to the 798 Art District, the sky was actually blue and air smelled clean. When in Beijing, one must visit the 798 Art District www.798district.com<\/a>. Linna (my beautiful wife) flew in on the same flight I did but just a day later; I took a taxi to meet her coming out of customs. <\/p>\n Since I had business in Xuzhou, Wuxi and Wujiang the following week we were off to Shanghai. After landing we started our day at the Yuyuan Market area for a little shopping, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the beautiful Yu Garden. I picked up two oil paintings and one of the paintings was a fake Van Gough, cheesy in a way\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6but vogue in my world. Linna picked up a bunch of silk scarfs for herself and for gifts. For all the times we have been in Shanghai Linna and I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been up to the Pearl Tower together. The last time I was up in the Tower was 2003, during the SARS outbreak; they had heat monitors that you had to go walk through. <\/p>\n We finished the day off at a restaurant on the Bund with views to die for called New Heights, which is part of Three on the Bund restaurants www.threeonthebund.com<\/a> It has a gorgeous terrace overlooking the river and the Pudong District. The food didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t match the view though, it reminded me of a local restaurant in Seattle, Salty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s…great view but the food can be a hit or miss. The next night we had the opposite dining experience; food to die for and the view only so so. Lost Heaven www.lostheaven.com.cn<\/a> is located in the Bund area and specializes in Yunnan dishes that are incredible. The dark, rich d\u00c3\u00a9cor and romantic spotlighting provided the perfect atmosphere for a wonderful dinner; after dinner we headed to their cozy outdoor lounge for a nightcap.<\/p>\n Our last day in the Shanghai area was spent mainly in Wujiang, a city due west. After my business meeting we found ourselves exploring Tong Li; this beautiful water town is about an hour train ride due west of Shanghai. <\/p>\n The last full day was spent back in Beijing visiting Linna\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good friend Rebecca Liu. We had dinner at 1949, one of the best places to eat Beijing Duck.
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