Last supper at the Beijing Peninsula hotel, before 3 and a half months of bread and mutton fat
Arrived at Shanghai airport to find that my visa is no longer valid. Apparently changing flight at Shanghai counts as having entered the country, so the visa is expired. Am currently sat in the airport for 6 hours and $120 lighter whilst a new one gets delivered from the embassy. Hong Kong? Phooey!
…time passes…
Hanging around in the airport wasn’t too bad though. Amusing to see a chap walk through wearing sunglasses and flanked by two burly security guards and chased by a man taking lots of photos. Loads of locals ran over to see who the superstar could be, but all seemed to walk back to their friends shrugging and scratching their heads.
…time passes…
Man covered in boils keeps staring at me. Between the two of us, surely it’s him that should be getting stared at.
…time passes…
There are lots of TV’s here showing ads for the World Health Organisation or something, with an eminent doctor extolling the virtues of guarding against climate change. Wasn’t really taking much notice until I noticed all the other people giggling at the end of each ad. Watched it all the way through and the strap line is “Allianz is inspired by Dr DikShit”.
…time passes…
Note: Don’t eat Spaghetti Bolognese with chopsticks if you’re wearing a white shirt.
…time passes…
Visa finally arrived so made it to Beijing on a rather erratic flight. All the 90 degree turns made me think we’d end up back in Hong Kong. After a very long taxi ride through the smog got to the Beijing Peninsula, a truly wonderful hotel.
