Greetings from China! It's been awhile since I've been in Beijing  and first trip post-Olympics. From here I head to Shanghai then Nanjing, back to Shanghai for a day, then home. Whew!

Today's question: Why do airlines tell you when flying co-shared flights that you have to check in at a specific airline only to be told when you get to airport that you are supposed to go elsewhere?

I was flying United to San Francisco, then transferring to Air China to Beijing. Ok. Cool. Called multiple times (I get a bit OCD with travel arrangements) to both airlines asking the same questions:
1. When I get to LAX, do I check in at Air China (terminal 2) or United (terminal 7)?
2. What happens with my luggage? Once I check in does it go through all the way to China? Or do I have to go to baggage claim in San Francisco and recheck it?
3. What about my boarding passes? Where do I get the one to Beijing - in LA or SF?
4. Is there a possibility of an upgrade to business class from coach with miles?

Here were the answers I received on the phone as I couldn't get the answer online:
1. Check in at United. (Actually this was on the Air China website)
2. Your luggage will get checked all the way through to Beijing from LAX,
3.  You will have to go check in with Air China in San Francisco to get your boarding pass to Beijing.
4. No.

Reality was:
1. Supposed to check in at Air China then hop on a bus around the airport to United. Oops. Fortunately, after some SERIOUS begging and pleading, they checked me and my luggage in at United, "but don't do this again". OK. Sure. Til the next time.
2. True.
3. True - only you have to hike over to the international terminal, exit security, wait in a line with everyone and their luggage to check in and get the boarding pass. Then go back through security, do the security strip yet again, and find the gate.
4. No. Fortunately on the mostly full flight, there was an empty seat between me and the other person. Did I gain weight or did the seats shrink? Hmmm ...  nope. Been losing weight so ... seats are definitely more narrow. Good thing I don't carry extra weight on my hips!

Biggest shocker of the day  - I'm on a 12.5-hour flight and order a glass of chardonnay when they come around with the first round of drinks and - No wine! No beer! No booze! Where are we headed? Kuwait? Am I on the wrong plane??? Didn't help that the flight attendant looked at me like I was completely nuts. Great. Then she tells me that I can have wine with the meal.

Meal service comes around and they have wine - red. Great Wall of China red wine. No white. AAK! Didn't we JUST leave San Francisco which is a few miles from oh - Napa Valley??? No offense to my Chinese friends, but China is not known for it's superior domestic wine production. Napa Valley on the other hand - I ask if there's beer. YES! I have one. The whole trip. ONE.

I revise my plan to sleep on the plane having figured out that we land in Beijing at the equivalent of 2am LA time - and I'm a night owl, so I can handle staying up to 4am. But that means being awake the whole 12+ hours on the plane in a seat that is getting more narrow by the second and hey - Mr. Guy-In-Front-Of-Me - would you please move your seat back up just a tad? I really don't need your head in my lap since we don't even know each other - and sure, thanks - Nescafe coffee served in Dixie cups is my FAVORITE coffee in the world! Thank Goodness for trashy novels and my fear of being stuck on a long flight with nothing to read.

It was a two book trip. The other good thing I did (OCD travel girl that I am) was bring 2 peanut butter sandwiches (pre-salmonella outbreak), some trail mix and chips with me just in case. Suffice it to say that they were needed.

Land in Beijing. They built this beautiful new terminal, Terminal 3 for the Olympics. It's huge and very modern. Lots and lots of jetways, many of which are empty. So why did they make us de-plane on stairs in 28 degree weather and bus us in? Made it through immigration with a 10-minute wait in line (not bad!). Then took a train ride into the baggage claim area and my luggage was waiting for me. (Always a happy sight!) Then walked out of the terminal. No customs!  There was a screening area and it said "Customs", but no one was monitoring everyone leaving. Hmmmm...

The super nice folks from CCOIC/CCPIT were there to greet me and give me a lift to the hotel. (Thanks Li Tianya!). She got a kick out of the fact that I had a receipt from Chengdu Panda Reserve in my coat pocket from last year's journey to China since she's from there - guess we really did have a mild winter in LA if I'm finding stuff in a coat that I obviously haven't worn in a year!

It felt surreal driving to the hotel since there was no traffic. Beijing has traffic like other capitol cities around the world - in other words, horrendous. Are we sure this is Beijing? Yes it was. And yes, sleep felt amazing. All 8.5 hours of it!

Sunday was a sunny but very cold day. Went for a walk by the hotel on my favorite shopping street. It's changed. My favorite stores were closed or now big holes in the ground. Boo! Later, met up with Cherif, a friend from the tradeshow industry who travels more than anyone I know. We went to an American food place near the US Embassy called Grandma's Kitchen then walked over to the Silk Market. The walk between the two places was not only windy, but also really cold.

Maybe they used to sell silk at the market but not anymore. The Silk Market is a 5 story building made up of stalls with clothing, luggage and the like. It's a huge indoor swap meet. Lots and lots of Dolce & Gabanna, Tommy Hilfinger, Polo, and poor quality cashmere sweaters, but no silk. And no, I don't need a fake Rolex, thanks.

It always makes me feel good when the salespeople in the stalls say, "Hey lady - we have your size here!" I know I'm a bigger person than most Chinese, but come on! I'm not that huge! Anyway, Cherif and I had fun on our quest for a few items even though we weren't too successful in obtaining said items. It's fun to haggle and bargain.

Finished the day off having a business meeting over tea in the lobby of my hotel. Oh right! That's why I'm here - duh - it's a BUSINESS trip, not a shopping trip! LOL.

Monday started out sunny, clear and cold -8 C which is 15 degrees F or as us Southern Californians call it, "REALLY, REALLY, REALLY COLD (dude)". Had a big meeting at one of the government offices. The Chinese are formal in some ways, informal in others. Meetings are formal. For example, where one is seated in the scheme of the room has meaning.

The room we were shown to was beautiful (My good friend Jo-Anne Kelleway from InfoSalons kindly lent me the use of Leslie, who runs her Beijing office for a couple of hours as my interpreter since my Chinese language capabilities are limited to "hello" and "thanks"). It had antique white chairs, tastefully arranged in a semi-circle following the rectangular contour of the room with matching tables between each seat and some gorgeous artwork on the walls. No conference room table here! There were 2 chairs at the top of the room, the rest laid out equally on each side. The two principals (or highest ranking participants) sit in the top two chairs, then everyone else sits in order of rank, with the lowliest person sitting furthest away from the 2 principals. Make sense?

The meeting was actually quite productive and hopefully we'll have a big announcement soon.

(Continued in Blog 2)