{Part III of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Arrival in Beijing, China}

It was shortly before midnight on March 23, 1987 when the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program delegation arrived at their Kunlun Hotel in Beijing, China! 

A very cold hotel, that still was under construction... New, and not totally completed yet! 

BUT with very nice rooms. 

After a shower and emptying the suitcases, Pieter went to bed; tired...
It now has been 3 days in the air for finally arriving here and staying for 4 nights!

In the morning, things looked different and Pieter did explore his new surroundings.

The Kunlun Hotel is seen to the left in his photo ←click on hyperlink for slide show of actual hotel.

Luckily, Beijing International Airport was not far away from the hotel. 

The gray area to the upper right is the airport and the red marker is where the hotel is.

The red star is where the hotel is, lots of high rise buildings at present time.

This is on the Liangma (Landmark) River, below the hotel where Pieter walked to assess his new surroundings.

Cold and still rainy...

Here, on this Google map, you can see where the river is so you get an idea as well.

The hotel name was correct, they only seem to have changed the street name and phone number.  

It is a 29-story Hotel.

Only one block away from the diplomatic residential compound, within walking distance of the Lufthansa shopping center, and has easy access to the International airport. 

Early morning, Pieter felt so sorry for all the young waitresses, dressed in a crisp white blouse and black skirt, lined up in the windy hall! They must have been freezing...
Because it was still open, not yet closed in as you can see on this photo, still carving on blocks inside the lobby area.
For breakfast, the entire delegation kept their coats on due to the windy draft going through this area of the hotel... Brrrr!

This is outside of the hotel, beside the entrance...

Can anyone read this text?...

It was quite a study for observing how they create this!

The paper is covered over the stone... But it is a precise art!

This painted mural was also in the lobby area, with a blooming bonsai in front and other plants.

And this... Looks like a family to me.

First meeting in the capital, with people from the University of Beijing.
As a microbiologist and mushroom expert, Pieter did give two lectures that day as they visited the Beijing University and their Research facility.
Keep in mind, this was NOT a vacation trip...
While in the People's Republic of China, the delegation was under the official sponsorship of the China International Exchange Association of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishery.
The Ministry also did provide English-speaking guides.

Look at the huge room for such a meeting...
Tea was served and it must have been rather difficult for communication across such distances!

The Chinese were very eager to gather knowledge and to exchange with this group of mushroom people from the USA.
Some of them did recognize husband Pieter as they had been several years back at his Practical Training College in Horst, The Netherlands!

Gifts got exchanged between the Americans and Chinese...
Pieter of course did offer his English book about Modern Mushroom Growing.
They were very pleased but told him that they just got it in Chinese!
That sure did perplex Pieter and he didn't believe it.
However, they went to the library and showed it to him. Pieter made these pictures.

Of course we can only read husband Pieter's name...

The cover of husband Pieter's book.
They just stole it, without asking permission...
If they only would have asked, Pieter could have provided them with the negatives for the photos, so the end result looked a lot better than their poor copies of photos. Also the paper quality was poor.
BUT one of the delegates, Jin-Torng Peng, Ph.D from Taichung, Taiwan promised to give Pieter a copy towards the end of the trip...

The day got partly video taped by the Chinese TV and rounded up with a nice banquet attended by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and People to People delegates.

Will be continued with City Views of Beijing...

Related links:

{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China} | previous post by me

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{The Most Used FOUR-Letter Word... "LOVE" - Value it}

And here is maybe THE most important Word, in whatever language!

It happens to be in English The Most Used FOUR-Letter Word... "LOVE" - Value it

Yes, LOVE does bring out the most Angelic qualities of a human being and I dare to say, also in our pets as they sure know how to love unconditionally!

So let's cling to that like this Angel is straightening its back against the L... Would again make a lovely gift this silver charm.

This Italian Giovanni Raspini 925/100 silver Alphabet Angel "L" is available for only USD 33.25 with FREE shipping within the USA:

Sorry, sold out...

Other alphabet letters are also available at Spectrenoir ←just click.

Related links:
{The Most Selfish ONE-Letter Word... "I" - Avoid it} | previous post by me
{The Most Satisfying TWO-Letter Word... "WE" - Use it} | previous post by me
{The Most Poisonous THREE-Letter Word... "EGO" - Overcome it} | previous post by me

{Part II of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia - Tokyo, Japan to Beijing, China}

 With Northwest Orient aboard the 747, husband Pieter did arrive after 10-½ hours at the Narita Tokyo International airport of Japan, local time 17:00.

They needed a temporary visa which was no problem at all.

By bus they went to the Radisson Hotel Narita

Radisson Hotel Narita is a great place for staying longer...

On March 22 of 1987, it was still called Narita International Hotel...

But the address remained the very same, and also the telephone number.

While the delegation went by bus to the hotel, Pieter wrote in his diary that he'd never seen so much military and tanks etc. around the airport, it looked like they expected an attack any time. 

The Japanese dinner with chop sticks went well and it even went better with some hot  Sake wine.

Everybody was very tired so they were in bed by 21:00... But Pieter managed to write some postcards and a short letter to me.

On Monday March 23, Pieter woke up early and had breakfast alone and took a walk. It was a cool and rainy day.

Pieter also prepared the slides for his lectures to be given to Chinese Universities. 

By 9:00 they all went by bus to the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and a shopping center.

Sorry there are no actual photos as I mentioned already, we lost several slides during our move...

The weather was not so good for taking photos... as visible in this photo above.

By bus they went to the airport again and with flight 930 C.A.A.C. 747 to Shanghai, China with a lay over of 1-½ hour before continuing to Beijing.
Flying on such a rattling Russian Ilyushin Il-62 was quite an experience!

 Again there were lots of soldiers...

The service on China Airlines was by far not comparable to our US airlines. Flight attendants could learn from e.g. Singapore airlines. 

Pieter asked for some white wine with his dinner and the flight attended filled up his coffee cup (yes, with wine!).

C.A.A.C. means Civil Aviation Administration of China

 Late evening arrival in Beijing, China in the rain and it was rather chilly....

Luckily Hotel Kunlun (red marker bottom left) was not far from the Airport (to the right at the top).

Will be continued with Arrival in Beijing, China...
Thanks for your visit!

Related links:

{Part I of Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me

{People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - Husband Pieter's Trip to East Asia} | previous post by me