Halfway Around the World...My Trip to Houston via Beijing and Vancouver

After a 5 hour flight to Singapore, a 6 hour flight to Beijing, a 12 hour layover in Beijing, a 12 hour flight to Vancouver, a 12 hour layover in Vancouver, and a last 4 hour flight, I finally made it to Houston! Only 50 hours of travel time!!!

My journey began as I left Perth on Wednesday afternoon (Perth time) 30 June. I first flew to Singapore on a 5 hour flight, then had about 3 hours to spare before my flight to Beijing. What does one do when they have time to spare in the Singapore Airport??? You go to a Fish Spa!!!

The Fish Spa is a type of spa where a type of Turkish fish (with no teeth) suck the dead skin from your feet, legs and anything else you put in the bath to help with blood circulation and put you in a relaxed state. It was quite an odd sensation at first and I had to get over the mental anxiety of fish swarming my legs, but after the initial shock wore off, it was quite nice. After about an hour it was time to head to the gate, China bound!

Fish Spa in Singapore

Note: NEVER fly Air China! Old planes, no TV’s, and bad food. Luckily I was exhausted and slept the majority of the flight and when I woke up, it was time to land. I have to say I am a bit spoiled as well flying Singapore Airlines most of the time. The service and staff are so nice, you forget how nice you have it until you end up on another airline that doesn’t take hospitality as serious as Sing Air.

Beijing
Best of: Seeing the Forbidden City, visiting a silk factory and experiencing a traditional Chinese tea tasting

Worst of: The cloudy and rainy weather

My first trip to China was welcomed by hot, humid weather. Oh how I don’t miss those balmy Singapore days or the August summers in Houston. Luckily, it was overcast so the heat wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I met up with my English speaking tour guide Anly and we headed off to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in downtown Beijing. Tiananmen Square was massive having two large LED screens in the center of the square to show the World Cup. The square is between the Parliament building and the Forbidden City.

In front of Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.The Forbidden City is one of Beijing’s largest landmarks and in 1987 was declared a UNESCO Heritage sites.

Next we visited a traditional Chinese tea house to understand the proper way to drink tea and the different types of tea that are found in China. China is known to have the longest history of tea dating back more than 3,000 years ago. I tried Jasmine, Lychee with Rose, Black tea, and Oolong Tea. Some tea has been “aging” for over 100 years. There is fruit tea and handmade tea with Jasmine leaves rolled into a tight ball that after sit in hot water, open to a beautiful flower that can be used as decoration for 7 days or longer after you enjoy the flavor of the tea.

The last main site was of the Temple of Heaven (above) The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations.

You quickly forget how long 12 hour flights are when you haven’t flown them in several months...this is also where I vouch to not get on a plane anytime soon; only to realize I have to get back home...

Vancouver

Best of: Seeing some of the country's celebrations for Canada Day (Independence Day)

Worst of: Being exhausted!

I landed in Vancouver on Thursday, 1 July 2010 which happened to be Canada Day; which is our version of the 4th of July. Parades and celebrations were under way with Canadians enjoying the beautiful weather. During the summer months in Vancouver, the sun doesn’t set until around 9:30 at night, giving them 16 hours of sunlight. It was perfect for me to be able to not only enjoy the nice weather, but to have plenty of sunshine to make up for the bad weather in Beijing!

My first stop was to Granville Island. The Island is actually a peninsula on the northern tip of Vancouver, not far from the city. The island is known for the famous market with heaps of restaurants, bars, and shopping or great places just to sit out on a bench to enjoy the scenery.

View of Granville Island Markets from an overhead bridge

After grabbing lunch at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant and spending a few hours walking around, I decided to head off to Stanley Park, just a few more miles northwest.

Stanley Park is a huge park with ponds, lakes and outdoor activities to see and do.

A lake at Stanley Park

Below is a picture of handmade totem poles in Stanley Park.

Just as I was about to leave, I caught this beautiful picture of the sun setting over one of the lakes at the entrance of Stanley Park.

Last stop, Houston!!!