The Greatest Story on Earth, Part 2: Return to China

Sunset touchdown in Narita, Tokyo is confused.  I’ve chased the sun 4,000 miles west, but as the Earth spins at 1,000 miles an hour, my Japan Airlines flight just can’t keep up. We land at dusk, which at the end of Winter in Japan, arrives near 6 PM.  Fast and furious I move through Narita Airport, stopping long enough to enjoy Firewall-free Internet one last time before picking up my connecting flight to Beijing.

The four hour evening flight is bleary-eyed.  Fatigue has its way, and I sleep for much of the journey.

Beijing.  The Capital City!  The Center of the Empire!  Home of ten dynasties, two revolutions, and ancient intrigue.  Political and cultural capital of the biggest nation on Earth.  A misunderstood city, plagued by dust from the Gobi desert, industrial pollution, parched air, and manic seasonal extremes between its only two seasons- Summer and Winter.  Beijing.  I always wanted to come here.

Before landing I peer out the window.  I see illuminated super highways, but I’m surprised not to see the glistening power grid cityscape electrical glow of a city like Los Angeles or Phoenix.  This may be partly due to air pollution, but I think that even in the hinterlands surrounding Beijing, a lot of land is rural and agricultural.  China is incredibly crowded in places, but 600 million people are dispersed outside of cities, where they produce more disseminated light.

I flow out of the plane into the cavernous international arrivals terminal, one of the biggest buildings on the planet.  Soaring, bulbous, and wavy ceilings of glass and steel rise above me as I scurry through customs. It’s quick and easy, thankfully.  My bag is immediately ready.  I stand in a taxi line of hundreds of people for 25 minutes, tasting the dusty, smoky, Beijing spring air.  I am delivered to the Beijing Sky Business Hotel after driving by a convention center, broad boulevards, empty streets, and barbed-wire, high security military installations.  Fortunately my wife encouraged me to book a room on hotels.com before arriving, so I have a room tonight.

I quickly collapse onto a hard twin bed.  I had entertained delusions of meeting my old friend French-German friend Maximilian Fahr upon arrival, but after three flights, all I can do is drift away to sleep. . .