I wonder if my clubcard will work?

(if you're reading this in the comfort of your own country, our stealth carrier pidgeon has successfully reached the 38ChevyP2P communications nerve centre in central Europe)

Well we're here!   According to my wristwatch the time is 10:50am.   According to my body-clock, however, it's 3:50am.   After a fairly broken night's sleep, we've woken to the news that there is a tropical storm building to the East of us and should be arriving in Beijing tomorrow (Wednesday).

The storm is not such an issue.  The real issue is that the heavy rains that accompany it are tracking due West and ... you guessed it ... after passing through Beijing will cross into Mongolia and onto the very plains where the P2P is scheduled to go.   If that happens, the normally hard dry surface will turn into something approaching The Somme (for you youngsters who are wondering what the Somme is, check your history books circa 1916).    Rather than have to call out the CAA tow-truck ...

... all vehicular traffic grinds to a halt and waits for the surface to bake hard again.   The good news is that Tiger beer is the equivalent of 65 pence per pint, so every potential rain cloud has a silver lining.

Today (Tuesday) we're simply kicking our heels and trying to adjust to the time zone before we collect Fugly the Chevy tomorrow.   Then we'll see how well, or otherwise, the anti-condensation system that we installed has worked.  If it's done its job, Fugly's interior should look just like it did when it left the UK.   If it's not lived up to its promise, we'll have a morning removing mould from the leather and cloth surfaces!

The flight to Beijing was uneventful and I can now cross "must travel first class" off from my list.  I knew it was going to be better than Business Class when I requested a glass of champagne and the response was "white or rosé, sir?".... although I might have revealed my non-aristocratic origins by having one of each!   The much-talked-about flat-bed was surprisingly comfortable, but folded-flat-seat would be a more accurate description.

When we arrived in Beijing, we were greeted at the aircraft door by the airport butler, whose job was to take us through the customs procedures and to our hotel car.  I should explain that I'd pre-booked transport from the airport to remove some of the stress ... but I hadn't expected the enormous stretched black Mercedes, complete with blacked-out windows!    (Hmmm ... note to self ... check the provenance of that Mercedes ... perhaps it was a stretched Toyota with plastic surgery ... this is China after all) .   Once wafted away from the airport, it was a 40 minute drive to the hotel, where we were taken directly to our room by the Duty Manager.  She was there to meet the VIPs and apparently we were the VIPs! .... All I can say is that £80 gets you quite a taxi ride here in Beijing!!

Our hotel is very smart and I suspect that it's all downhill from here until we finally make Paris (fingers crossed).   For dinner I selected the Wagyu beef  (Click here to read about Wagyu Beef)  and all the stories of Chinese meats being questionable dissappeared.    This is my kind of roughing it!

Well that's it for now.   We're off to see the Forbidden City, Tianenmen Square and the local Tesco's for some bottled water and provisions for the rally.   I wonder if my clubcard will work!

CD