(no subject)
Mar. 5th, 2008 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranMy last surreal experience of Beijing was leaving via the brand new Terminal 3. By new, I mean it had actually opened that day, and mine was among the first flights to leave from it. Approaching the terminal was surreal enough, even the taxi driver gasped and shook his head when he saw the size of it.
Inside, the main terminal building was constructed as one vast open plan chamber, with its giant roof curving like an artificial sky overhead. Its curves actually produced something of an optical illusion, making it seem even bigger than it was as it seemingly snaked off over the horizon. This was architecture in what I have come to think of as the modern Beijing style - beautiful but intimidating and just a little too big for normal human scale. It was architecture designed to make the viewer feel small, and in that regard, I guess it's no different from the great expanse of Tiananmen square or the Forbidden City.
The ceiling was actually so impressive, it was worthwhile to just and contemplate it for a while, as I did over a cold bottle of Yanjing beer while I waited for the restaurant staff to figure out such details as how to cook food and serve customers. That was the other thing that was odd about the day. Not only was the terminal new, but all the shops and staff seemed to be too. Everywhere I went was a small adventure as sales staff tried to work out how to use cash register or work out which of them would do what to complete a sale.
I checked in a good three and a half hours before the flight. The travel advice is actually to be there three hours before your flight, but I happened to be there even earlier, in part because I was expecting delays. And as it turned out, there were delays. My flight was delayed in Sydney by two hours, meaning I now had five and a half hours to kill.
Having exhausted all the shops in the main building, I took the obligatory airport train to the outer terminal. For some reason, I've come to dislike having to take a separate vehicle just to get to the flight gates, even though all the new airports seem to have them. The train was fast and empty. Customs was a breeze. And then I was out in the outer terminal with five hours left, and a sea of shops to explore. All but about four of which were closed.
It turned out that there were only two more flights leaving that night, and there hadn't been many flights all day. As a result, almost all the shops had either closed already or hadn't even bothered to open to that day. There followed roughly three hours of wandering around the cavernous outer terminal and poking around the four open shops, while outside it grew darker and darker and inside it grew colder and colder.
The passengers for my flight arrived in dribs and drabs and we huddled around our tiny gate as though for warmth. With an hour to go, Qantas laid on some sandwiches and drinks and the poor girl serving the drinks seemed surprised that everyone wanted hot tea that she had to dispense rather than cold cans that they could take for themselves. By that time it was well below zero outside and getting close to it inside.
I did a few more laps of the terminal building, played with my laptop (this was the first time I've ever been grateful for the warmth it gave out), and bought a Beijing 2008 Olympics T-shirt (no doubt causing much entertainment to the sales staff for my broken Mandarin). Outside on the tarmac, we could see three ground staff waiting patiently with bright orange vests in front of the aerobridge for what seemed like half an hour.
At last our plane arrived out of the darkness and we watched the passengers disembark. Thanks to the special geometry of the arrival and departure gates, they never actually entered the same level as us, but passed directly onto the next floor, where I hope they found open shops and working facilities waiting for them.
Half an hour later, it was our turn to embark, and that was it for Beijing.
Inside, the main terminal building was constructed as one vast open plan chamber, with its giant roof curving like an artificial sky overhead. Its curves actually produced something of an optical illusion, making it seem even bigger than it was as it seemingly snaked off over the horizon. This was architecture in what I have come to think of as the modern Beijing style - beautiful but intimidating and just a little too big for normal human scale. It was architecture designed to make the viewer feel small, and in that regard, I guess it's no different from the great expanse of Tiananmen square or the Forbidden City.
The ceiling was actually so impressive, it was worthwhile to just and contemplate it for a while, as I did over a cold bottle of Yanjing beer while I waited for the restaurant staff to figure out such details as how to cook food and serve customers. That was the other thing that was odd about the day. Not only was the terminal new, but all the shops and staff seemed to be too. Everywhere I went was a small adventure as sales staff tried to work out how to use cash register or work out which of them would do what to complete a sale.
I checked in a good three and a half hours before the flight. The travel advice is actually to be there three hours before your flight, but I happened to be there even earlier, in part because I was expecting delays. And as it turned out, there were delays. My flight was delayed in Sydney by two hours, meaning I now had five and a half hours to kill.
Having exhausted all the shops in the main building, I took the obligatory airport train to the outer terminal. For some reason, I've come to dislike having to take a separate vehicle just to get to the flight gates, even though all the new airports seem to have them. The train was fast and empty. Customs was a breeze. And then I was out in the outer terminal with five hours left, and a sea of shops to explore. All but about four of which were closed.
It turned out that there were only two more flights leaving that night, and there hadn't been many flights all day. As a result, almost all the shops had either closed already or hadn't even bothered to open to that day. There followed roughly three hours of wandering around the cavernous outer terminal and poking around the four open shops, while outside it grew darker and darker and inside it grew colder and colder.
The passengers for my flight arrived in dribs and drabs and we huddled around our tiny gate as though for warmth. With an hour to go, Qantas laid on some sandwiches and drinks and the poor girl serving the drinks seemed surprised that everyone wanted hot tea that she had to dispense rather than cold cans that they could take for themselves. By that time it was well below zero outside and getting close to it inside.
I did a few more laps of the terminal building, played with my laptop (this was the first time I've ever been grateful for the warmth it gave out), and bought a Beijing 2008 Olympics T-shirt (no doubt causing much entertainment to the sales staff for my broken Mandarin). Outside on the tarmac, we could see three ground staff waiting patiently with bright orange vests in front of the aerobridge for what seemed like half an hour.
At last our plane arrived out of the darkness and we watched the passengers disembark. Thanks to the special geometry of the arrival and departure gates, they never actually entered the same level as us, but passed directly onto the next floor, where I hope they found open shops and working facilities waiting for them.
Half an hour later, it was our turn to embark, and that was it for Beijing.
