The G20 world leaders and I have decided to go to China

This is my first attempt to keep you all updated with some method that does not involve me hunched over my iPad for hours at a time, trying to email out pictures to everyone. On previous trips I’ve bailed on a lot of pics I really wanted to send out because they often took hours to send on the various hotel servers.

So, voila!…with just a little help from Grace in choosing a blog hosting site, setting up the blog, helping me set up the passwords, showing me how to input text and showing me how to drag in a picture, I am ready to go!

I have never been more apprehensive about a trip, although I am sure I will make this same pronouncement when we head to Egypt in January. For now, though, China’s got me nervous. We’re on a tour so I feel we’re somewhat insulated from the common transportation/transiting mistakes I make on our European travels. But there’s other issues I ponder – like the food and will it all be absolutely disgusting? I know that sounds insulting but I’m worried that everything will be a gelatinous mound of quivering things I can’t identify. Here is a hugely informative/ironic overlapping list of things that are often served AND that are on my most-reviled food list: fish, duck, meat, noodles in meaty-smelling broths and mushrooms. Add in water that isn’t safe to drink, all raw fruits and vegetables off-limits and my corn allergy and I think I have the secret to a 10-day weight loss extravaganza!

My eating plan involves Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s and my Beijing and Shanghai hotels have fast food outlets within seconds of the lobby. The hotel in Xi’an looks a little more troubling as it offers, right next door, the Meager Profit grocery store and the FanFan Cigarette and Liquor store.

All of this surely makes you wonder how we came to be in possession of these Delta tickets to China and makes me realize that it wouldn’t hurt if I spent less time randomly pricing airfares. But back In January, when I was sitting around in the living room, messing around on Kayak, I simply could not believe that I could go nonstop from Seattle to Beijing for $375 and then all the way home again from Shanghai for another $375. I looked quickly to see if my bargain tour company, Smartours, had trips for the cheap flight days, and announced my discovery to Ron…an entire trip to China, including air, for $2000. And he looked up from his book, unflappable as ever, and said should we do it?, which I interpreted to mean that I should get out my credit card on the spot and book the flights.

So – China. I know nothing. I’m going in unprepared – the starkest possible contrast to my excruciatingly detailed trips to Europe. I know enough to be worried about the pollution and, in my ignorance, I bought a N95 particle face mask and bumped up my asthma inhalers. But my efforts are overkill as I see that I have scheduled our trip at the same time that the G20 summit will convene in China for the first time ever. And while surely this will mean some increased crowding, most likely in Shanghai, it also means that the Chinese government has suspended operations at hundreds of factories and limited car usage in some city cores. They did this previously for the 2014 Olympics with great success and the skies were blue and clear everyday. I consider this an auspicious start to our travels, especially since I usually schedule us into places during festivals/holidays that only serve to complicate and often eradicate our sightseeing goals.

So, off to China – Sept 6 to 15 – with extremely modest expectations and a lot of curiosity.