I often start my blogs by saying "I've always wanted to visit xxx" and this is partly true about China. Yes of course I'd like to walk on the Great Wall, sail down the Yangtze and see Pandas, but if I'm totally honest one of the greatest attractions is the sheer size of the country and the difference it will make to our scratch off map.
For a while now I've subscribed to marketing emails from a company called Wendy Wu which is one of the leading tour operators for both the UK and Australian markets. One day last year an offer came through that was just too good to pass up - a choice of various length tours dangling the carrot of "free business class return flight" plus they would pay for and arrange the visas. Ian and I sat down and compared the tours on offer and decided that we'd only go there once so let's try and see as much as we can and so we settled on Magnificent China, a 21 day tour covering the most iconic sights. Our budget didn't stretch to business class on the outbound leg but as it was with BA we were happy to settle for Premium Economy on the basis we had the lounge and it was "only" an 11 hour flight (as opposed to the 14 1/2 hour coming home now that Russian airspace is off limits).
The trip is quite extensive, involving planes, boats and trains.
Parking for 3 weeks at Heathrow was alarmingly expensive and as our favourite taxi man Don has retired, Cress kindly offered to take us to the airport. Unfortunately with roadworks on the M26 and M25 she had rather a hideous journey but we'd left plenty of time and in due course she dropped us at the posh end of T5 for Silver check-in. Except they'd moved it and it was now at the other end of the terminal and Premium Economy was in its place. Above the desk was a screen offering upgrades and so, for once, Mr Unimpulsive became impulsive and we asked how much - £499 each which was a bargain compared to the £999 we would have paid at the time of our original booking. Anyway to cut a long story short we paid for one in cash and the other with Avios points although it took a very long time for it to go through and we became rather concerned that our time in the lounge would be severely compromised. But no, we had plenty of time for a glass or two of pink fizz and lunch (made a nice change we’re usually there at breakfast time).
Unfortunately when we arrived at the gate for boarding we were told there was an hour delay, but we simply headed back to the lounge and waited. I learned on boarding that one of the pilots had failed a random drug test (something innocuous but nevertheless a banned substance) and so they had to wait for a replacement. By the time we eventually took off the cabin crew were in danger of going out of hours and I was warned that dinner service would be prompt. It was a great flight and worth every penny, the food and drink were delicious and nicely served, the seats were club suite and so we had a door to close off the aisle and block out passersby and light from other screens.
Arrival in Beijing was relatively straightforward although our suitcases were stopped at one of the many scanners and our wine boxes looked at with suspicion. I'd already researched that wine with an ABV of 12% or less was unrestricted so I simply pointed out the % and we were waived through.