Travels through China-1

As we got off the Air China flight after 6 1/2 hours, the first thing which stuck me about the Beijing Capital International Airport ( BCIA) was its enormity. Terminal 3, where we disembarked is the second  largest passenger terminal in the world. Given its massive space, there is no sense of congestion, something we experience in many of the other international airports. Mind you, BCIA is among the busiest airports in the world. A brisk walk and then we find a long counter( unmanned) where we fill in a small immigration form and then present our fingerprints for recording. Once recorded, a small chit bearing ‘OK” is thrown out which we show to a person at the gate and he waves you on to the Immigration counter. A grim-faced but efficient Chinese stamps your passport in five minutes flat ( In India, you know the time taken,which could vary between 20-45 minutes) and now we move to a large hall to take the APM (Automated People Mover) or in simple words, a driver-less train.

Terminal 3 has three distinct parts – T3E, where we landed (and took off on return) caters to the international operations of Air China and other major carriers. T3C is where all passengers check in for both domestic and international flights. while domestic boarding gates other than for Air China are in T3C, Air China domestic boarding happens from T3D. In all, I was told there are 150 boarding gates in T3. Coming back to our journey, we boarded the APM which after a 4 minute run drops us at T3C. We move into the baggage collection hall and what do we see? Around 50 carousels. Our baggage is scheduled on Carousel 37 and soon enough, we collect our baggage and walk out to our waiting car. Left-hand drives. 

We are on our way to our hotel, a forty-five minute drive. We see BMWs, Volkswagens, Toyotas, Hyundais along with some Chinese cars like Dongfang .When one thought of China, the immediate things which came to mind were The Great Wall, an ancient civilization and of course an enormous population. What we see is a modern China with broad, well-laid out roads flanked by enormous buildings, contemporary, yet with a touch of old Chinese style. Beijing has a population of close to 22 million but yet one does not see that many people walking on the footpaths, there is no feeling of overcrowding. The inter-connected expressways, highways, electric buses, well-regulated traffic,a large metro network ( possibly these could be crowded, did not check them out)  & inter-city High Speed Railway ( Bullet trains) clearly emphasise the fact that, in terms of infrastructure, China is at least 10 years ahead of India. There are negatives too. The pollution levels are very high and a pall of smog hangs over the city all day through. Also we see people smoking in public places. By now, we have reached the hotel and we get off, looking for a short rest before exploring the nearby areas of Beijing and above all trying to find some vegetarian food. Exciting days ahead!