August 19, 2008

Trip from Philly to Dulles uneventful. Sitting in old version of 747 out of Dulles flying United to Beijing for the Olympics. Mindful of old United ad for Olympics “Fly the friendly skies” no longer relevant because first thing stewardess said in response to my answer to her question why do you want to sit near galley (I said to be able to speak with you guys meaning the stewardesses) she said we (meaning flight crew) don’t speak to anyone because of a pay decrease. Of course she was kidding but it does capture the prevailing economic condition for airlines at this time. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the flight was just before we passed to the east of the North Pole when a large mountain range partially covered in snow came into view. This lasted for about 30 minutes when water and ice sheets appeared. By the time we were over the North Pole it was heavy cloud cover so it was hard to know if the open water continued, another indication of the global warming situation. Finally arrived in Beijing after 13 and ½ half hours non-stop from Dulles. Only one movie at a time could be seen on the main screen in the cabin. The major attraction was Kungfu Panda. Read John Kenneth Fairbank’s book on China, which is the same book read in undergraduate school. Marvelous compendium of anthropological, political and historical story of China. Met at the airport by tour guide who took the name Reeves as in Keanu Reeves because his Chinese name too hard to pronounce for westerners to pronounce. Had Peking duck at local restaurant near the hotel which was very good.