A short post today…

We flew direct from London Heathrow to Beijing. No point sugar-coating it, our experience with Air China was not the best; comfort, food, and service. But we are here, Beijing!

Beijing International Airport is massive. We had to take a train (shuttle) to get to the luggage hall. The signposting is sensible.

And then, our first dabble with the essential apps: DiDi (think Uber). You do need to attach a bank card to it, for using your phone or card in the way we have become used to is not an option. Given that we were in a gargantuan, multi-layered complex, finding our driver was an interesting challenge. Through the app, we traded images and did, eventually, meet up.

The car (BYD) was immaculate. The DiDi app allows you to track your progress…

We have learned from our travels in other places that ordering a transfer through the hotel often comes with an unhealthy (exorbitant) sting. Our hotel quoted us something approaching £90 for something – with a little bit of work (learning) – that actually cost us 115CNY; that is £13. Now we know how to use the app we will continue to enjoy pocketing the difference.

Once settled in the hotel we ventured out for something to eat. We took a short walk from our hotel to the pedestrianised area of Wangfujing. It has to be admitted that we did (sorry) opt for Peking Duck, washed down with a local beer. Satisfied, we beat a weary retreat back to our hotel.

A final note. How about this for a floral arrangement? By the lifts in our hotel lobby. On first look, we both decided it must be made up of artificial flowers. It’s not. They smell wonderful and look stunning, especially given that we are both fans of the sunflower.

We look forward to passing them again tomorrow morning on our way to breakfast… and then our first full day in Beijing.

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