Yesterday Qi asked for a window seat on the flight from Beijing to Shanghai, and the check-in person said that was no problem and gave us seat 26F and G. But when we entered the plane (an old B737) it turned out that F and G were middle seats, and we were surrounded by a loud Chinese tour group from Jiangsu province. It was the second time they were flying (first time was on their way to Beiijng) and they were all extremely excited about it, and were screaming all across the plane to each other. They brought their own food and drinks (thermos flasks of tea), and the guy next to me smelled as if he had not taken a bath since Chinese New Year’s eve. Because I was quite sick I did not feel too comfortable with them around me.

But we managed to find a solution. Qi had already complained about not getting the window seats we were supposed to get, and the stewardess said she would see if she could arrange something. Well, she could not, because the plane was fully booked. Just when she came to tell us this, the tour group people in the emergency exit seats were given the instructions on how to open the doors in case of an emergency landing. You cannot sit there if you do not understand those. The purser and two stewardesses gave them the instructions to read, which they tried to do. But it soon became obvious that they were illiterate, so they were not allowed to sit there. Although I felt bad for them we gladly volunteered to change places with them!

My stay in Beijing was mainly a stay in bed: I have spent about 20 hours per day there since Monday night. No skiing and no skating as I planned to do, and I got hardly any work done. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent entirely in bed. Thursday I had an interview with the South China Morning Post (HK newspaper) in the morning, and then an outside meeting with a German client in the afternoon. With aspirin I managed to handle it. I even joined the farewell dinner Qi’s parents had organized in the Russian Moscow restaurant in Xizhimen, in the sidewing of the old Russian-built and Russian style exhibition center. It was the first and for many years the only Western style restaurant in Beijing, and therefore still famous among Beijingnese. A fantastic place (great architecture), but the food was mediocre at best (maybe because I was sick?). After the dinner I collapsed into bed for a 12 hour sleep.

When I got up I felt worse than before with a high fever and hardly able to stand on my feet. I guess I had overdone it a bit the day before. Problem is that we had tickets booked for a 2PM flight to Beijing, and I felt like I would not be able to make it. But after a long hot shower I put on two pairs of pants, two t-shirts, a long sleeve shirt and 2 thick sweaters (no joke!), took some aspirin and decided to give it a try. It was extremely crowded at the airport (end of CNY), and the flight was fully booked, but I made it home alive. I had a conference call planned for Friday night 10 PM, but I cancelled that. I took a hot bath and then had another 12 hours sleep. It’s now Saturday morning and I finally start feeling a little better. Just in time for the new working week that starts today 🙂 (this Saturday and Sunday are declared official working days by the Chinese government, and most companies, including China Bay, start work again today)