I managed to arrive to Beijing in the same day I left from Tokyo. This was not easy, as my flight was to Hong Kong, and there I had to find the counter for an express ferry (I will write about this some other time) which took me from the Hong Kong International Airport (cool, in an island) to the Shenzen airport (already in China), and there I had to fly to Beijing. The difficult part of this was the tightness of the schedules, and that I had not bought any ticket. But I managed to do so, although I was always a bit in a hurry to get the next connection.
For certain reason, I had to go back from Shenzen Airport to the pier where the ferry had left me. The only feasible option in a reasonable time (so I could be back in the airport soon and take the flight to Beijing) was a taxi. As it was quite close (less than 2 km), the taxi drivers in the queue (the official ones, which use a meter for charging) rejected to take me there… So, I asked for help in a counter in the airport, and the girl there negotiated with me the price (10 times more than I would have paid in case I got an official one), took me out of the airport, and suddenly a taxi arrived there, she talked to the driver, explained the situation, asked for some commission (or that is what it seemed) and told me: “you pay him when he brings you back here”. And so I did… and I took my flight.
I thought this thing of the taxi drivers not willing to take a customer to the right place, and the non-official taxis was something related to Shenzen, one of the most dangerous cities in China, according to the travel guide… But not. Today a total of 6 taxis have not picked me up, while I was in the city centre… Probably they thought I was going to some other centric spot (I was not, but they did not even ask me). Finally a crazy taxi driver (I did not know this until he was driving me to the Summer Palace) picked me up.
You might be wondering why I am such an expert in taxis in China. Well, anyone can be. They are extremely cheap. The flag price is 10 yuan, around 0,11 euro, and is up to 2 km. And the rest is more or less at this price. From the airport to the city centre in the night, it was around 150 yuan, and it is more than 30 km far away. So, normal rides in the city can cost less than 3 euros, and it is normally much better and faster. When I see these prices… I wonder where the impact of the Brent crude price is.
I should be boarding my flight to Hong Kong at this moment to begin my trip around China. I will visit Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and I hope not to freeze too much. It is the first time I am not at home at all in Christmas and I have a strange feeling. I hope going to a country where Christmas means nothing, will help me in not feeling homesick during this time.
Why China? I want to visit it before it changes… I have the impression it is already changing a lot, and with a economy growing at an annual 10% rythm, it is likely that even the Chinese will face problems in recognizing their own country. So, I want to see that change. Now, and in some years…
I will try to write from time to time… Or maybe I just rely on a notebook.
Or almost… These pictures were taken from one of the highest buildings in the city, the Mori Tower in Roppongi, around the sunset time. You can see the city under the sunlight and with all the lights on during the night. You can also see Mount Fuji far far away.
What you probably cannot see is the end of the city, can you?
Japan is the best place to be a dog… In fact, it is probably a better place to be if you are a dog, than a human being. 🙂 All dogs here are very spoiled, and people treat them as they were children. This, I know, it is very common in many other places, but here you find more of that. Here are some examples:
The store with clothes for dogs (one of them):
The dogs ready for the snow, and with the same clothes, so they do not become jealous.
And, of course, nappies for the dogs…
And, in previous posts, we also talked about the costumes for dogs.
Izakaya is the typical Japanese bar. There you can eat and drink, as in any other bar in the world. For some reason, it looks like some students’ (and not that students) flats, where a collection of empty bottles of different spirituous drinks matches the Living Room as good as a nice picture (or even better).
Of course, the star drink of this kind of places is “sake”, the japanese rice wine, which is served both hot and cold. Let’s drink a toast together: Kampai!
