The Great Firewall of China

Well, I've made it to China, settled into my apartment and have had some time to explore the city.  Since China blocks blogger.com I haven't been able to post until today when I figured out a nice work around for the sites China blocks, so I'm gonna post some backlog of what has been going on the past week.

The first is a post I made the day I got to China.  As you read it, you'll see that I had quite an adventure just getting here......

05/31/2013

After months of preparation, renewed passports, visas arriving at the last second, cancelled flights, and non-English speaking cab drivers I’ve finally made it to Beijing!

As I talked about a few posts ago, traveling is an adventure and I definitely was able to prove that true this past week on the way over.  My adventure began in Fayetteville last Wednesday at 5 AM leaving my house and getting to the Fayetteville airport.  A bit early I’ll say, but no real problem there.  My passport and visa go through without a hitch, security was a breeze, the attendant when I checked in even gave me “priority access” so I could board the plane airplane first.  I’m finally sitting on the plane looking out the window as we start to push out and I think "Who says this international travel thing is hard?"  I close my eyes and decide a nap is the best way to prepare for the long day of travels ahead….

The plane is almost fully backed out of the gate and all of a sudden I feel the little plane produce a giant shake and come to an immediate stop.  After a few intense moments of sitting on the tarmac not moving the captain comes over the intercom and says “we’ve got an issue with the steering, sit tight and we’ll keep you updated.”  My stress level rises a bit after I realize my layover in Dallas is only 45 minutes and being late in that airport could really test my running abilities.  Oh well, not much I can really do, I’m on an adventure right?  About 10 minutes later the plane is moving toward the gate and the captain comes over the intercom and informs all 36 enthusiastic passengers that we’re going to have to get off the plane, the flight is cancelled.  This is exciting!

After getting everyone off the plane, with as you can imagine, giant smiles on our faces, we all make it to the gate desk where there is not 3, not 2, but 1 American Airline worker ready to rebook 36 flights out of Fayetteville.  About an hour later I’m finally able to talk to the worker and get my flight rebooked for Beijing.  I won’t be leaving until 5 PM and instead of flying out of Seattle to Beijing I’ll be leaving direct from Chicago on a 13 hour direct flight.  I make sure the American Airline worker can put me next to someone that weighs over 300lbs and snores to make the flight really fun.  Throw a 2-year old in there as well.

Later that evening in Chicago after getting a months fill of Chipotle I trudge up to the boarding gate dreading my 13 hour flight with only 3 square inches of sitting room and hand the attendant my boarding pass.  She looks at me and says “oh, Mr. Andrews, we needed your seat, here’s your new boarding pass.”  I look down and see that I’ve ben put in the best seat in business class.  Overjoyed, I walk down the tunnel and onto the plane where I'm greeted with a glass of champagne and a hot towel.  Other passengers glare at me knowing that I'm not really supposed to be in business class and give continue to shoot nasty looks at me as I get comfortable in my seat.  I am unaffected, I plop my feet up, sit back and sip on my glass of champagne.

Three hours later I’m 32000 feet above Canada, sitting with my legs stretched out in front of me, finishing the 3^rd course of my 4-course meal, watching the new James Bond film.  China. Here. I. Come.