Beijing Skyline - One of Them

I just returned from my second trip to China. Most noticeable to me this time was the absence of what seemed exotic, which was replaced by a feeling of being in a comparative anatomy class - what was learned last time was applied to new observations this trip. Even though China is half way (12 times zones) around the world, I had benchmarks to begin with on this time around. A driver from the Embassy was at the airport to pick up our entrourage - I didn't have to fend for myself in a cab as last time because I arrived a day late, not having accounted for 

jumping ahead a day when I set up my first ticket because of crossing the International Date Line; the line of Poplar trees along the Airport Expressway (机场高速) was as I remembered it, but the scaffolds were gone that braced the many full-sized trees that had been planted in the city before the 2008 Summer Olympics; when watching the road signs when riding in a cab, I no longer just saw the the English names, but noticed the patterns of Chinese characters - like bridge (硚); a number of the delegate faces at the meeting were familiar the next day, not all strangers that I had never met before and with whom I could only talk through a translator; and even though there was a side trip to Inner Mongolia the next day, and was one of only two people with European facial features, this was China - I have been here before.

My last trip was at the end of April the year before, spring-time with occasional rains (click here and here for perspectives from that trip) - this trip was in the middle of September - harvest was well underway, everything was dry, and dust was everywhere, especially in Baotou. There are so many people in China that size is relative with so many people everywhere. With the Beijing Capital International Airport serving 30 million people being huge with multiple terminals - like O'Hare in Chicago - it is surprising that the airport at Baotou (BAV) had only two gates that serve its 12 million - a frontier town in the west away from Beijing. (1) Maybe that is how it was for St. Louis in the 18th Century, when that was the jumping off place to the old west.

I will have to think more about relaying details of other sights from this trip.
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(1) I spent last Saturday night in Baotou, and can confidently report that there was no sign of disruption to air service Sunday morning when I caught an early morning flight back to Beijing due to the reported sighting of an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) Saturday night - the report said that the UFO had interrupted several flights, but that service was restored by 10:00 PM. Then again, the presence of a UFO in the vicinity may account for the loss of the electronic record of my traveling companion's ticket from the Air China computer system. (2) Regardless, the good news was the excellent ticketing service provided by the Air China personnel who quickly issued a replacement ticket to an already sold out flight - even though there was still an empty seat beside me.

(2) This was more likely due to something wrong with the government contract ticket service, than due to computer glitches at the terminal - there is nothing like foreign travel and wondering if your travel partner will be getting out of Dodge City with you.