Thoughts on China

Well, the tension is building. I just got over a couple of days in bed being sick. That’s going to put more stress on my job, since I have a few things I really have to get done before I leave. Now, it’s 3:00 in the morning and I’m wide awake. So, I guess because of how I came out of this cold, I’m on Beijing time a week and a half early…Hopefully, this will be good practice for the jet lag I’ll soon have…

I just saw another site that’s only half finished, but if you are planning to go to China, I would really recommend you checking it out: http://www.yilongwei.com

He really adds details that many others gloss over when it comes to dealing with things. For instance, he spends a lot of words describing exactly how riding the trains in China works. He discusses many of the pitfalls that can happen when you make assumptions (like you’ll be able to get a ticket for the next day’s train when you get off at a tourist destination for one day…not necessarily, and you better make sure your schedule is loose enough to handle this type of delay).

Well, mine is, but I have planned where I’d like to spend the extra time. Now I know I better have a few days of slack built in to the schedule to accommodate these types of unplanned delays.

Of course, I already have this figured out for the flights to and from China. With a total of four stops each way (including the destination), there are plenty of opportunities to miss connecting flights (or have my checked bag miss them).

My plan is to be unflappable and to take everything in stride. I figure there will be times that I won’t be a happy camper. Maybe I get a flat tire on the bike I just rented and have to wait a half hour while it gets repaired. But, this will just give me an opportunity to meet a Chinese bicycle repairman I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Perhaps he’ll get a chuckle out of my mispronunciation of some Chinese words, but I hope he’ll appreciate that I’m trying (in fact, my wife says I’m VERY trying, but that’s a different story…).

I have been planning this trip for so long, I don’t think it’s going to hit me that I’m going until I’ve left Detroit and am drifting off to sleep somewhere over the Arctic Circle…we’ll see…