Beijing

I tell you what, getting into China is a bit tricky for a big fella!
And not for any reasons you've just thought of.

Just like getting into the States (keeping up with the Trumps?), they take your fingerprints.

UNLIKE getting into the States, they don't tell you to flatten each enormous digit onto the reader one at a time.

Put all four fingers of your left hand on the screen.
Stay inside the lines
Put all four fingers of your left hand on the screen.
Stay inside the lines
Put all four fingers of your left hand on the screen.
Stay inside the lines

I'm probably a slow learner, but I eventually figured out that my wide hand (but is it though?) wasn't going to fit inside the window they give you. I have no idea how sasquatchian sportsmen from just about any country would get through this IQ test.

Then I figured it out. The goal is to get all four fingerprints visible on the screen. So I turned my hand 45° and voilà! Just like how they measure a television screen, the diagonal corners are further apart than the sides.
Phew!!!

Anyway...

These big airports really are impressive. And modern.

We were debating how to get to our hotel. All other transfers had been pre-arranged, except for this one. We didn't know till about -24hrs which way we were coming, so decided to wing it.

Those who know Sarah will understand how difficult that thread was to leave dangling.

Against her better judgement, she agreed to let me take her on the train. The only alternative seemed to be a taxi, and we knew that English would not be the default.

So off we go to the station. About 100m from the main terminal concourse. I had screenshots on my phone of the transfer stations.

As we all know, Google is a dead duck in this country, but Apple Maps was alive and well. Go figure!

I had decided to gamble that we would have access to enough wifi spots during this trip, so got a password at the airport to set up my train route before we left the terminal, and our link to the internet behind. I didn't want the hassle of getting a local sim, but we'll see.

The train ride was uneventful. Just like in Bangkok, the ticket from the airport only gets you to where you change to a city train, regardless of what you're told at the airport ticket desk. 50 yuan for airport to city, then only 6 yuan for the last two sectors. Once we emerged at street level, it took a moment to get our bearings. After getting directions via sign language, we established that the train station exit is  actually in the basement of our hotel building. Too easy!!