China? Are you ready???!!!!????

你好Nǐ hǎo

On Friday the 14th October we're off!!!!! Well to Newcastle airport anyway. The folks decided that it would be a great idea to book a 6:25am flight which, as you know dear readers involves a 04:30am check in, which in turn means leaving home at 02:00am. Errr no. We are staying on the Friday night at the airport in one of 'airport hotels'. Not that I'm excited!!! I"M EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dad has a very strange ritual. Before a trip he rushes off to buy a pair of sunglasses, not that he's a collector, just that he has a bad habit of either loosing or breaking a pair before we go! Sadly this time Dad has lost a pair and just broken another!!!!!!! Good job he doesn't wear spectacles!!!

Firstly Visas. I'm on a Simian Visa which alongside the fact that I'm an international blogging sensation means I can travel where I like, when I like! The folks had to apply for theirs. 2 Photographs and unlike the Philippine Visa we didn't need to show how many smackeroonies are currently in the bank.

Took a while for the Visas to be authorised. Dad worried...a bit!

Secondly Insurance. Mum's on that case!

Thirdly the old smackeroonies! We are advised to take a combination of GBP and the trusty VISA cards! Job done! Except the tipping, which is in dollars and as yet we don't know exactly how many are needed!

Fourthly packing..............loadsa time for that!!!!!!

We fly from Newcastle airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. Apparently we have a few hours to kill before leaving on the long haul flight. T'is ok because I'm gonna be eating cheese and drinking wine-Parisian style! Actually on reflection I'd best stick to coffee and a sticky bun!

From Paris we fly to Shanghai Pudong airport in China! We arrive at 7:00am local time, get picked up and transferred to our first hotel just in time for some scummy Shanghai breakfast of liang kuai qian with a side of youtiao!!!

Apparently the rest of the day is ours to explore (probably get lost...again) and in true Edward Lovemonkey exploration I shall be onboard in Dad's day rucksack, well you can't be too careful. Please see my blog entry http://edmonkey2011.wixsite.com/edtravel-blog/single-post/2015/09/30/Handbags-are-not-a-safe-method-of-travel-especially-in-Yorkshire

Anyway on this trip we see all the good stuff, travel to Xian, Beijing and beyond!

Stayed tuned for a trip report!!!!

再见

Zàijiàn

Edward xxxxxxxx