Day 1 - Sunday

Trip Preparation
It's not like me to deadline something, but I didn't start packing for China until the night before my flight out. I've been busy the past few days. Traveled to Nashville and back in one day to sit with Weenie at the hospital. She had a pacemaker put in. And I worked late most afternoons trying to finish things up so my co-workers would not be too burdened with things during my absence. My flight was at 6am. I finished packing about 3am and decided to go ahead and stay awake so I could sleep on the plane. Called a taxi to pick me up at the house and take me to the airport.

The Flight
Birmingham to Chicago: The flight from Birmingham to Chicago was uneventful. Very small plane, felt all the turbulence, you get the idea.

Chicago to Shanghai, China: Terminal was packed with Chinese. The flight was full. It was about 75% Chinese/25% Americans. The Americans on the plane were all study-abroad college students. I sat next to a very nice Chinese family. The dad spoke pretty good English. Since we booked my flight 2 days in advance, my seat was 3rd row from the back. It was the biggest and longest plane I've ever been on. As Granddaddy would say, it was a 'huge bird' and it glided on in. Hardly felt turbulence.

Food on the plane:
Snack: pretzels with drink
Lunch: chicken stir fry or beef noodle with salad
Snack: chinese noodles with tofu and rasberry shortbread cookies
Dinner: your choice of turkey sandwich or chinese noodles with yogurt and some kind of cookie.
Which brings up the ONLY downside to sitting in the last 3 rows...all the other American college guys on the plane chose the turkey sandwiches, therefore the only item left for me was the chinese noodles. No big deal, I'm getting ready to eat those for 2 weeks straight anyway, might as well start right away!

What did I do during the flight?
(A) Watched 8 in-flight movies
(B) Slept on and off with my sleep mask on
(C) Talked to Chinese family
(D) Ate Cheetos (brought from home) and drank copius amounts of ginger ale
(E) The Chinese flight attendant brought me a glass of champagne to enjoy. It was a fun way to kick off the trip.

Arrival
Upon arrival, we were told to keep our seats. Six Chinese Health Officials came on board wearing full hazmat suits. It was like the Blue Man Group meets Star Trek meets ET. They went from person to person zapping each person's forehead with the temperature scanner and reviewing our health declaration forms. Since were were incoming from a known flu hotspot, we were quanantined on the plane until EVERY person was checked. It took over an hour. I have some great pictures of this going on. If someone had a fever, all persons within a 3-row range of the sick person must be quarantined at the hospital. We were all concerned because someone 3 rows in front of us was sick and vomiting the last few hours of the flight. Must have been motion sickness though, because he didn't have a fever, Praise God!






(I had to take this photo fast! That's why it's so blurry.)

The Health Officials announced we were clear to de-plane. After another hour of going through immigration, I made my way to the luggage round-a-bout. It was a madhouse. Chinese people everywhere grabbing luggage. Spotted mine coming, but missed it the first go-around. I would have taken out 3 Chinese people trying to grab it, so decided to catch it on round 2. Got it. Now, I'm ready to find David. It was a hall of craziness. Like walking the red carpet. Chinese people on both sides holding signs of the their company name or who they were picking up. Heard my name on the intercom in the middle of all this, so I knew David was somewhere inside. Looked up and there he was. What a sight! So good to see him. He paged me because our plane landed 3 hours ago and still hadn't seen or heard from me. I almost didn't recognize him at first glance with his FULL beard on. I knew he hadn't shaved in a while because we had discussed how I was going to bring shaving cream for him, and I like the scruff look on him. By the time I arrived it was full beard!

Shanghai
We took a cab straight to the market in Shanghai to get a quick glance at what it is like and what kind of goods they have. In Shanghai we saw plenty of foreign travelers like us. Lots of Russians too. It is now nighttime in China. What a sight. Neon signs in Mandarin on every building. Just beautiful. Then, we walked to the train station and took the train about an hour to Hangzhou, which is where we'll spend most of our time.

Hangzhou
From the train station, we caught a cab to the hotel, the Nanyuan Inn. Very chic. Dropped my suitcase off in David's room. Walked to KFC for a late dinner. KFK is very popular here, but it is not at all like in the US. They do not have mashed potatoes and gravy. I had a very spicy chicken sandwich with fries. The girls who work there do not speak a word of English and the menu is in Mandarin. I just pointed to the photo of the item I wanted! We had a window seat which gave everyone a good view of the big white couple eating at KFC, lol! So far, we're the only foreign couple I've seen here. Hangzhou is not a foreign touristy city. What a surpise, the chicken was all dark meat. Now those of you who know me are laughing already at this. Needless to say I ate all I could of the dark meat chicken sandwich. We ate several egg tartlets too.

Foot Rub
Next door to the hotel is a "foot rub" place. David is a pro at this. We went into a room with comfortable lounge chairs. Since we didn't have shorts on, we took off our pants and covered ourselves with a blanket. So, we're sitting there in our underwear covered by a blanket. They give us a shoulder and back rub while soaking our feet. Then, they washed our feet and legs and massaged them for an hour. The whole process is $8 US dollars. We drank yellow tea and snacked on tiny tomatoes with sweet crackers during the massage.

Hair Washing
By this time, it is midnight here, and time for a hair washing. So we went to the "hair washing" place. Again, David is a pro at this too. We sat in salon chairs and were shampooed sitting up in the chairs. Wierd! Then, they took me downstairs to rinse out the shampoo and condition. Back upstairs for the blow dry. It was the most gentle blow dry I've ever experienced. I fell asleep during the blow dry and woke up when my head rocked backwards. David and the guy were laughing at me with my head bobbing around. Jet lag was setting in. Total charge for my service was $3 US dollars. So, I've decided I'll shower in my hotel everyday, and go to them for shampoo and styling. What a luxury! Having someone else blow dry my hair each day! I could get use to this.

Day one drawing to an end! Back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. Key didn't open room door. David walks back to front lobby to resolve key issue. Staff ribs David about me. They've seen him for weeks here alone, now he shows up with me. They want the scoop. They probably think I'm some Russian escort he's hired! He comes up to the room and looks up the word for "wife". Will explain to them tomorrow that we're married! They don't understand the symbolic concept of wedding rings here, so simply showing them David's wedding ring doesn't clear up the question. It is 1am here, which means it is noon Sunday in US.