The goal of the day is to board, fly, and arrive in Chengdu, China without complications. We all loved Beijing and the endless tourist and entertainment attractions, but I expect we are all happy to get to Chengdu and get some fresh air. Once again, on the highway Raghav and I aren’t ashamed about not looking at the road in fear of possible accidents, so looking down and pushing the trust button is a necessity as our driver weaves in and out of highway traffic. Driving in China is not an experience easily explained.
On the two hour flight to Chengdu, it occurred to me that all of China operates in the same time zone despite its massive size. Now I realize why it was so light out in the early mornings of Beijing. It made a lot of sense to operate on same time zone and have that time centralized to the middle of the country. As technology and manufacturing drive the Chinese economy, it is hard to rationalize different time zones or even day light savings like the United States uses. One of the more humbling things I witnessed was the boarding of several monks on what appeared to be their first plane ride. I realize the act of boarding is not extravagant, but with the Buddhist monks boarding for the first time ever, I saw how a graceful and positive flight crew embraced them and upgraded them to first class.
– Kieron
