As Kim addressed in her last entry, I’m now in China for the 3rd time this year. I departed DFW on Saturday, May 10th and arrived in Beijing on Sunday the 11th. The trip started just like my previous two, uneventful. I didn’t realize at the time this trip would be one I will always remember.
With encouragement form Kim and due to the inquiries from friends & family on my safety in China due to the recent earthquake, I decided to publish my first blog.
I started my journey to Chengdu on Monday afternoon at 2:00. Everything was normal on the 3 1/2 hour flight from Beijing to Chengdu until it was time to land. The stewardess informed me that the Chengdu airport had closed and we were being diverted to Kunming. At the time, I assumed the reason was the weather in Chengdu. Shortly before landing in Kunming, the stewardess mentioned that the reason the airport closed was due to an earthquake.
Upon landing in Kunming, the crew told us to wait in the lounge until a decision was made on the continuation of our flight to Chengdu. Wile waiting, I decided to google “China earthquake” on my blackberry and learned of the 7.9 magnitude quake that hit ~50 miles outside of Chengdu at around 2:30pm. My 1st thought was that Chengdu would be leveled with a quake that size. You see, Chengdu is a city of 10 – 13 million people and a significant number of high-rise buildings with many more under construction. This news made it clear that I would not be continuing on to Chengdu, so I started to search for an airline representative to determine my options.
After looking around the waiting area for a while I finally found an airline representative but it didn’t do me any good because of the language barrier. I quickly learned that very few folks in Kunming speak English. Eventually I made my way outside of the secured gate area to the terminal building and found my luggage and an airline ticket counter. With a lot of hand gestures and speaking very slowly, I learned that no more flights would be going Chengdu that night and that a bus would take me to a hotel courtesy of Air China. The agent also suggested I return in the morning to see if the Chengdu airport was accepting flights.
Well, after a short wait, I boarded a bus with ~50 others, and yes, I was the only one that looked out of place. After a long drive the bus stopped at a Hotel/Resort area. My first impressions were not good. No, it’s not what you and I would consider a resort! Any way, I followed the lead of the other passengers and exchanged my boarding pass for a room key without speaking a word. While walking across the parkway to my room in one of the annex buildings I was attacked by a swarm mosquitoes. Finally, after climbing 3 long flights of stairs I reached my room. Well it was two twin beds, a bathroom (with blood red bath tub and toilet), a TV, a lamp and nightstand. The TV did not have any English speaking stations and there was no Internet connection. So, I dropped my bags off in the room and went back to the front desk to see if they could help me locate another hotel. That was a lot of fun; did I say they didn’t speak English in Kunming? After trying to communicate for 15 minutes, I gave up and called Kim & my office to see if they could locate a hotel for me on the Internet. Fortunately, after several calls we located a 5 Star hotel in the downtown area. By the way a 5 Star hotel in China does not always translate the same as a 5 Star in other parts of the world. I thought this move to a 5 Star hotel would make my stay in Kunmig easier, but I was mistaken. Although this hotel was a significant improvement, their English was no better and the Internet was extremely slow. However, it did have CNN and a Chinese speaking news station. That evening I stayed up until 1:00am viewing reports on the devastating earthquake outside of Chengdu.
As you probably know by now, the quake hit ~ 50 miles outside of Chengdu. Initial reports indicated several thousand dead and hundreds injured. Knowing Chengdu’s population in the area is ~ 13 million people I fully expected the death toll to rise and it quickly did to more than 15 thousand. Watching the videos (as the quake occurred) on the news really showed the violent magnitude of the quake in Chengdu. Here are a few excerpts taken from e-mails I received from our team in Chengdu:
• The city is calm; the tremors are ongoing, but decreasing in size and frequency.
• The initial citywide panic is subsiding and life is slowly returning to normal.
• Most people have now found somewhere safe to sleep. Initially people were afraid to go back in to buildings and slept outside.
• It was a very traumatic experience for all staff with little sleep last night. All are well and in good spirits considering what has occurred.
• It is difficult to explain how lucky we are and why for some inexplicable reason Chengdu was spared the worst of the disaster. It was an extremely powerful earthquake and I am amazed that the aftershocks continue and their power.
• The airport is open to domestic traffic, but with relief planes arriving every 15 minutes most domestic flights are being cancelled or re-directed
• The water to Chengdu is now cut off and has been cut off a number of times this morning.
o The Provincial Government is stating that the cutting off of water is only temporary as they check and repair pipes
o A rumor started that as the Chengdu water comes from Dujiangyan (close to epicenter), the Chengdu water supply is badly contaminated and the Government is intending to shut down the water to Chengdu for three days
o Difficult to ascertain the truth as a staff member from the provincial government told the German Consulate the rumor was accurate, but critically it has caused panic buying of potable water in Chengdu, with the city running out of bottled drinking water
o Currently assessing the level of access to potable and non potable water of all staff, her initial feedback is there is currently no problems
• Tremors still occur and all office towers are still closed. We had a sizable tremor this morning. The Government will not allow any towers to open without its approval
• The approach taken by various office towers and apartment building varies. In mine they have taken a very proactive approach. In another new Singaporean complex (Waterfront) no administration can be contacted. In one apartment where friends live on the 19th floor, the cracks are large enough to see clearly all the reinforcing rod.
• Most office towers will open tomorrow, but lifts (elevators) will not operate and at this stage there seems to be no systematic approach to building inspection.
• The Chinese Government relief effort is well organised, swift and large in scale. That said, the task they face is enormous and the current death toll will surely rise.
As you can tell, this was a major quake!
I couldn’t get a flight to Chengdu on Tuesday because the airport was still closed. I thought I had a flight booked for Wednesday morning, until the airlines called me late that night to inform me that the flight was cancelled. With no firm date for Chengdu’s airport to open I decided to go to the airport to look for my self and decide where to go next. I knew I couldn’t stay in Kunming because I wasn’t being productive with the slow Internet.
I arrived at the Kunming airport around 11:00am, thinking I could catch a 2:00pm flight to Beijing but the 1st flight available to Beijing departed at 4:20pm. By the way, the airlines don’t accept credit cards only cash! So, with limited cash on hand, I had to find an ATM that would accept my card. Earlier attempts to use an ATM at the hotel didn’t work. Fortunately, the ATM at the airport accepted my card. For a few moments I thought I was destined to stay in Kunming!
So, now you know the real reason I decided to write this blog. When you have 5 hours to kill at the airport, you have to find something to keep you occupied.
In closing, you now know I’m safe in China (I'm back in Beijing for the time being) and I appreciate all of you that expressed a concern for my safety. Please keep the people in China in your prayers. It will take some time for things to get back to normal in Chengdu and the surrounding areas.
Joe
With encouragement form Kim and due to the inquiries from friends & family on my safety in China due to the recent earthquake, I decided to publish my first blog.
I started my journey to Chengdu on Monday afternoon at 2:00. Everything was normal on the 3 1/2 hour flight from Beijing to Chengdu until it was time to land. The stewardess informed me that the Chengdu airport had closed and we were being diverted to Kunming. At the time, I assumed the reason was the weather in Chengdu. Shortly before landing in Kunming, the stewardess mentioned that the reason the airport closed was due to an earthquake.
Upon landing in Kunming, the crew told us to wait in the lounge until a decision was made on the continuation of our flight to Chengdu. Wile waiting, I decided to google “China earthquake” on my blackberry and learned of the 7.9 magnitude quake that hit ~50 miles outside of Chengdu at around 2:30pm. My 1st thought was that Chengdu would be leveled with a quake that size. You see, Chengdu is a city of 10 – 13 million people and a significant number of high-rise buildings with many more under construction. This news made it clear that I would not be continuing on to Chengdu, so I started to search for an airline representative to determine my options.
After looking around the waiting area for a while I finally found an airline representative but it didn’t do me any good because of the language barrier. I quickly learned that very few folks in Kunming speak English. Eventually I made my way outside of the secured gate area to the terminal building and found my luggage and an airline ticket counter. With a lot of hand gestures and speaking very slowly, I learned that no more flights would be going Chengdu that night and that a bus would take me to a hotel courtesy of Air China. The agent also suggested I return in the morning to see if the Chengdu airport was accepting flights.
Well, after a short wait, I boarded a bus with ~50 others, and yes, I was the only one that looked out of place. After a long drive the bus stopped at a Hotel/Resort area. My first impressions were not good. No, it’s not what you and I would consider a resort! Any way, I followed the lead of the other passengers and exchanged my boarding pass for a room key without speaking a word. While walking across the parkway to my room in one of the annex buildings I was attacked by a swarm mosquitoes. Finally, after climbing 3 long flights of stairs I reached my room. Well it was two twin beds, a bathroom (with blood red bath tub and toilet), a TV, a lamp and nightstand. The TV did not have any English speaking stations and there was no Internet connection. So, I dropped my bags off in the room and went back to the front desk to see if they could help me locate another hotel. That was a lot of fun; did I say they didn’t speak English in Kunming? After trying to communicate for 15 minutes, I gave up and called Kim & my office to see if they could locate a hotel for me on the Internet. Fortunately, after several calls we located a 5 Star hotel in the downtown area. By the way a 5 Star hotel in China does not always translate the same as a 5 Star in other parts of the world. I thought this move to a 5 Star hotel would make my stay in Kunmig easier, but I was mistaken. Although this hotel was a significant improvement, their English was no better and the Internet was extremely slow. However, it did have CNN and a Chinese speaking news station. That evening I stayed up until 1:00am viewing reports on the devastating earthquake outside of Chengdu.
As you probably know by now, the quake hit ~ 50 miles outside of Chengdu. Initial reports indicated several thousand dead and hundreds injured. Knowing Chengdu’s population in the area is ~ 13 million people I fully expected the death toll to rise and it quickly did to more than 15 thousand. Watching the videos (as the quake occurred) on the news really showed the violent magnitude of the quake in Chengdu. Here are a few excerpts taken from e-mails I received from our team in Chengdu:
• The city is calm; the tremors are ongoing, but decreasing in size and frequency.
• The initial citywide panic is subsiding and life is slowly returning to normal.
• Most people have now found somewhere safe to sleep. Initially people were afraid to go back in to buildings and slept outside.
• It was a very traumatic experience for all staff with little sleep last night. All are well and in good spirits considering what has occurred.
• It is difficult to explain how lucky we are and why for some inexplicable reason Chengdu was spared the worst of the disaster. It was an extremely powerful earthquake and I am amazed that the aftershocks continue and their power.
• The airport is open to domestic traffic, but with relief planes arriving every 15 minutes most domestic flights are being cancelled or re-directed
• The water to Chengdu is now cut off and has been cut off a number of times this morning.
o The Provincial Government is stating that the cutting off of water is only temporary as they check and repair pipes
o A rumor started that as the Chengdu water comes from Dujiangyan (close to epicenter), the Chengdu water supply is badly contaminated and the Government is intending to shut down the water to Chengdu for three days
o Difficult to ascertain the truth as a staff member from the provincial government told the German Consulate the rumor was accurate, but critically it has caused panic buying of potable water in Chengdu, with the city running out of bottled drinking water
o Currently assessing the level of access to potable and non potable water of all staff, her initial feedback is there is currently no problems
• Tremors still occur and all office towers are still closed. We had a sizable tremor this morning. The Government will not allow any towers to open without its approval
• The approach taken by various office towers and apartment building varies. In mine they have taken a very proactive approach. In another new Singaporean complex (Waterfront) no administration can be contacted. In one apartment where friends live on the 19th floor, the cracks are large enough to see clearly all the reinforcing rod.
• Most office towers will open tomorrow, but lifts (elevators) will not operate and at this stage there seems to be no systematic approach to building inspection.
• The Chinese Government relief effort is well organised, swift and large in scale. That said, the task they face is enormous and the current death toll will surely rise.
As you can tell, this was a major quake!
I couldn’t get a flight to Chengdu on Tuesday because the airport was still closed. I thought I had a flight booked for Wednesday morning, until the airlines called me late that night to inform me that the flight was cancelled. With no firm date for Chengdu’s airport to open I decided to go to the airport to look for my self and decide where to go next. I knew I couldn’t stay in Kunming because I wasn’t being productive with the slow Internet.
I arrived at the Kunming airport around 11:00am, thinking I could catch a 2:00pm flight to Beijing but the 1st flight available to Beijing departed at 4:20pm. By the way, the airlines don’t accept credit cards only cash! So, with limited cash on hand, I had to find an ATM that would accept my card. Earlier attempts to use an ATM at the hotel didn’t work. Fortunately, the ATM at the airport accepted my card. For a few moments I thought I was destined to stay in Kunming!
So, now you know the real reason I decided to write this blog. When you have 5 hours to kill at the airport, you have to find something to keep you occupied.
In closing, you now know I’m safe in China (I'm back in Beijing for the time being) and I appreciate all of you that expressed a concern for my safety. Please keep the people in China in your prayers. It will take some time for things to get back to normal in Chengdu and the surrounding areas.
Joe
6 comments:
I'm glad you're back in Beijing and much more safer AND comfortable! Gotta love Beijing Hilton! Tell Joshua hello.
I can't help but wonder how it would have been if I had been with you on this one.
I love you and miss you!
So if you can't get into Chengdu...why aren't you on a plane to Texas???
Glad to hear you are alright...
At least you can watch the slingbox on your computer now!
Thank the Lord that you're okay, Papa Joe! We were so worried! What a blessing that you missed the quake by only a few hours. We hope that you have a pleasant (and safe) rest of your journey! Love you! Wade, Sarah, and Clayton
Thanks for the much needed update!! We look forward to seeing you soon back in TEXAS!!!
You should totally come home sooner... I'm with Jay on this one!!!
I asked and asked then Ash gave me your blog address . thank god you are safe and ok.We are thinking about you and love you a lot Pappa joe. god bless you and keep you you safe.
Sharghi Family
We are happy that you are ok and finally in Chengdu.I know it must have been an ordeal in a city where no one speaks your language.hopefully your trip will been productive and you will arrive back home safely.
G & GDad
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