Traveling with the Jones

We traveled to Singapore from Houston on Air China this week.  Our flight itinerary included an 11-hour layover in the Beijing airport, arriving at 3:47 am in the morning.

Rather than sit around an airport after a 15-hour flight, we took advantage of China’s 72-hour visa-free transit stay program that was introduced in 2013.

China’s 72-hour visa-free transit stay program is designed to facilitate brief sightseeing stays for travelers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenyang and Dalian, China when they are connecting on flights through the Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong Airport, Hongqiao Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Shenyang Taoxian International Airport and Dalian International Airport.

Travelers from 51 countries including Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States may participate in the 72-hour visa-free stay program.

Since we arrived at Beijing in the middle of the night after a long flight, we choose to head to the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport hotel just outside of the airport for a little rest and recovery, rather than taking a sightseeing tour to view attractions such as the Forbidden City or the Great Wall of China.

A hot shower, a warm breakfast, good internet connections, a restful nap and a walk around a few city blocks near the airport were the extent of our visit – but they were wonderful!

We were much more relaxed for our next flight of 8-hours into Singapore.

If you want to take advantage of China’s 72-hour-visa-free-visit policy, you need to follow the following steps:

• Notify you airline staff of your travel plans in China BEFORE you depart on your flight into China.  We informed the Air China representative in Houston of our plans in Beijing; she took care of making the necessary entries to our flight record so that we could exit the airport without a visa during our brief stay.
• Be certain to take your airline ticket/boarding pass with a confirmed seat for your departing flight that will take you to another country outside of China.
• Know that visitors are not allowed to leave the transit city to go to other cities during the 72 hours. They can only depart from the same airport where they get their permit issued.
• Visitors are required to register at a police station with their transit permits within 24 hours after entry. (NOTE: this step is only necessary if you stay with a friend or family member. If you check into a hotel, the hotel handles the registration for you.)
• The duration of your stay in one of the approved cities in China starts from the scheduled time of your flight arrival and continues through the time of your scheduled departure flight.  This time cannot exceed 72 hours. For example, you cannot have a 76-hour layover, even if you only plan to be outside of the airport for 72 hours.

Have you tried visiting China while in transit without a visa under the 72-hour visa-free stay program? What was your experience? Please share your thoughts in comments below. 

Are you planning a visit to China? You may want to check out this post on 12 Fun Facts You May Not Know About the Great Wall of China

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On Sunday morning we flew from Houston, Texas (IAH airport) to Beijing, China (PEK airport) on Air China flight 996 aboard a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Since Air China is a member of the Star Alliance, we were able to use United frequent flyer miles to fund this trip in Air China’s First Class which is called the “Forbidden Pavilion.”

Who can resist a name like the “Forbidden Pavilion“? This one way first-class ticket (which included a flight from Kansas City to Houston, and another flight from Beijing to Singapore cost us 70,000 United frequent flyer miles per person.

Note: these flights were booked before United significantly raised its First Class International award levels in early February. Under the new system, this one-way flight in “Forbidden Pavilion” First Class will cost 130,000 miles.

We started our trip at the Air China contract lounge at Houston’s Terminal D for business and first class passengers. There was an Air China representative at the lounge which assisted us in getting boarding passes, logging our United bag tags and collecting the information needed to in order to have a 72-hour-transfer without visa on our arrival in Beijing.

The impressions of the lounge at IAH are mixed.  On the negative it was a bit tired and was crowded. On the positive side, the staff was pleasant and the food was surprisingly good.

There is also a brand new contract lounge under construction in Houston which is slated to open the week of March 31, 2014. Glancing through the window, it looks like the new lounge will be a terrific upgrade.

Boarding of our flight in Houston started promptly at midnight.  We were greeted by the purser and led to our seats, 2D and 2H. These seats are spacious, with an amazing amount of leg room and a large entertainment screen.

The partition between the two seats is left up if you are traveling alone for privacy; if traveling together it lowers as shown in the photo above.

On our seats were pajamas (the size XL surprisingly almost fit even though I’m 6’6 tall), comfy slippers, L’Occitane amenity kits, and detailed drink and dinner menu.

As our nearly 15-hour-long flight departed at 1:05 AM, the first meal was light one, followed by snacks, with the full dinner service near the end of the flight.  Each meal has both western and Chinese options.

The first light meal began with a seared Ahi appetizer (which was amazing).

The Beef, Rice and Vegetable main course, which was good quality but a bit bland for my taste.

For Wine I had the 2002 Chateau de la Riviere from France which was very good. The wines were a bit hit and miss.  The Champagne was Cattier and for a First Class product seemed lacking, but the French reds and whites were both very drinkable!

I ended the meal with a Camus VSOP cognac which was smooth and a perfect night cap.

The In-flight entertainment was a mixed bag, with a terrific 28 inch crisp resolution screen but limited content choices to view on it.  There were about 20 titles in each category, i.e. movies-drama, etc. and about half of the titles were Chinese (well, guess that is appropriate on Air China.)

If you want a good selection of English language current entertainment choices, you will want to do as we did and bring a supply of movies and TV shows on your laptop and/or tablet devices.  There were 110 -volt plug-ins to keep these devices powered throughout the trip.

The flight attendants were attentive with a cabin pass though about every ten minutes. There were some language barriers (I initially got a glass of tonic water when ordering a Cognac) but these were quickly overcome. All of the flight crew had great attitudes and were very professional.

As I started to wake up they were very prompt at offers of fruit, chocolates, yogurt, coffee (instant) and tea.

There was a separate tea menu with seven different kinds of tea.  I tried two varieties recommended by the crew and both were exceptional.

Between the Business Class and First Class “Forbidden Pavilion” sections there is a self-serve bar with food and drinks for guests in both cabins to serve themselves between regular food and drink service.

It’s also a nice area to stand and stretch one’s legs during the 15-hour flight.

The flight time was scheduled for about 15 hours but we departed Houston a little early and the actual flight time was 14 hours and 47 minutes gate to gate.

Our bottom line on Air China’s First Class Forbidden Pavilion:

• Overall, the experience exceeded our expectations.
• The seats were excellent: spacious, comfortable and well-laid out.
• The service was attentive throughout the long flight; there were some language barriers.
• The entertainment system was outstanding technology but limited in content for English-speaking travelers.
• The food was good but not as strong as offerings on other airlines’ First Class service.

Have you flown on Air China’s First Class Forbidden Pavilion? If so, what did you like about the service? Please share in comments below. 

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We will be visiting the port of Mormugao, in India’s smallest state of Goa, via a cruise ship.  In preparation, we did a little research.

Here’s 21 Fun Facts About the Port of Mormugao, in Goa, India

1. Located on along the Arabian Sea on the west coast of India, Goa is India’s smallest but richest state. Goa has a GDP per capita two and a half times that of India as a whole.

2. The Portuguese ruled Goa for more than 450 years, until the December 17, 1961 Indian military invasion of Goa that ended with the surrender of the Portuguese Governor General Vassalo da Silva.

Colva Beach in South Goa. Photo by robinn.

3. Today the state of Goa is divided into 2 districts: North Goa and South Goa. Mormugí£o is a sub-district and a municipal council in the South Goa district.

4. When the Portuguese colonized part of Goa in the sixteenth century, they built forts on various hills along the coast. In 1624, they began to build their fortified town on the headland overlooking Mormugí£o harbor.

5. As one of India’s best natural harbors, Mormugí£o became a key trading point and was chosen for the terminus of the new railway linking the Portuguese colony to British India that opened in July 1886.

Train carrying iron ore to Marmagao port in Goa. Photo by Aaron C.

6. Today Mormugí£o is the leading iron ore exporting port of India with more than 27 million tons of iron ore passing through it each year, most going to Japan and Korea.

7. Five languages are commonly spoken in Goa: English, Portuguese, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi. The other main languages spoken in Goa are Kannada, Gujrati and Urdu.

8. Goa is only state in India having two official state languages: Konkani – which is written in both the Devnagri script and Roman English script, and Marathi.

9. Portuguese was the official language until Goa was liberated from the Portugal regime in 1961.

10. Goa has a hot and humid climate with three distinctive seasons: Summer: Mid-March to June; Monsoon: July to September (with an average of 26 inches of rainfall during this period); and Winter: Mid-December to February.

11. Goa is the only Indian state with an active and enforced Uniform Civil Code implemented by the Portuguese. The Uniform Civil Code in Goa requires equal division of income and property between husband and wife and also between children regardless of gender. Muslims that have their marriages registered in Goa cannot take more than one wife. During the course of marriage all the property and wealth owned or acquired by each spouse is commonly held by the couple. In the case of divorce, each spouse entitled to a half share of the property.

A Goan two-wheeled “pilot” taxi. Photo by Debastein.

12. Goa is the only place where one can hire a two wheeler taxi called “pilots.” These motorcycle taxis a cheap form of transport and are identified by their yellow license plates.

13. The first printing press of Asia was installed in Goa at St Paul’s college in 1556.

14. Goans qualify for a Portuguese Passport in addition to an India one.

15. About 65.7 percent of Goans practice Hinduism, 26.6 percent practice Christianity and 6.8 percent practice Islam. The remaining one percent are Sikh, Buddhists and Jain.

16. Goa is India’s most forested state, with 33 percent of the state covered with forest.

17. Football is the most popular sport in Goa, dating back to 1883 when the visiting Irish priest Fr. William Robert Lyons established the sport as part of a “Christian education. “

18. There are 6,000 bars in Goa licensed to sell alcohol. Goa has low prices for beer, wine and spirits due to its low excise duty on alcohol.

19. Rice with fish curry is a diet staple in Goa. Coconut, coconut oil, chili peppers, spices and vinegar are widely used in Goan food.

20. Feni, made from the fermented fruit of the cashew tree, is the most popular alcoholic beverage in Goa.

BAe Sea Harrier at the Naval Aviation Museum in Goa, India. Photo by Trinidade. 

21. The Naval Aviation Museum in Vasco showcases the history of Indian Naval Aviation, various aircrafts, weapons, sensors, safety equipment, rare photographs depicting Goa’s liberation and artifacts. Created in 1988, it was naval aviation museum in Asia.

Have you visited Goa, India? What ‘fun fact’ can you add? Please share in comments below.

If you enjoy history and interesting facts about far-flung destinations, check out these other Fun Facts posts:

• 18 Fun Facts About Phuket, Thailand
• 15 Fun Facts about Cornwall, England
• Visiting Alaska? 22 Fun Facts You Might Want to Know
• 11 Fun Facts to Know About the Cook Islands
• 24 Fun Facts About Cochin “Kochi” India
• 20 Fun Facts About Colombo, Sri Lanka

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