Friday 25^th January, 2019 1130

The trip started well enough, our car was on time to collect us and we had a good run to the airport. And Alice was not told she couldn't fly, as happened to her namesake.

She was though sent to the Naughty Room. I've been there a couple of times myself for having a phone charger pack, the first time I never knew they had to be taken in the cabin with you, the second because I didn't realise it was in the case. This time it was Alice in the spotlight. I joked that she might go to prison and she was adamant there was nothing in there except her makeup.

The reason for her being pulled in? The jing jo bottles I had gotten her to pack for me! They wanted to know if they had been opened, which they hadn't. Odd that they never asked about the wine in my case though.

I don't know if it was because it was too early or because the VIP lounge was not the one I am normally in but there was no alcohol there. In a huff I had a mug of tea and a grumble. Bad enough that Lanzhou airport has absolutely nowhere to smoke without rubbing it in. I must remember to swerve Air China in future and go with China Eastern, their lounge has beer.

By this time Alice was getting excited, even though she does suffer from travel sickness. She also preferred landing to taking off. Being a short flight they apologised for not serving a hot meal but there was a platter of a choice of bread rolls, fresh fruit and a piece of sponge cake. I could also get a cold beer so all was well.

I was convinced the taxi driver ripped me off as the journey to the hotel cost ¥120 but when Alice quizzed him he said the route he would have taken was sealed off so he had needed an alternative. I couldn't argue because yes, there was a road blocked by police. Last night though in the executive lounge I overheard a group of Swedes (in Chengdu for a start up car plant) saying a taxi from the airport to the hotel was about ¥50 so then I got the hump.

On Wednesday night we met with Annie and Michelle (another Peace Corps girl) at a Mexican restaurant called Good Good. It had good reviews online but it was very basic and really tiny. I paid for a set price selection of burritos, nachos, tacos etc and soft drinks. I wasn't too impressed but the others were and to be fair the portion sizes were generous.

Yesterday I didn't want to go out although Alice went exploring the shops after breakfast. I made her wait until 1500 when cold snacks would be free in the executive lounge, then later we returned for Happy Hour to eat a hot dinner. The beef was like leather so I contented myself with a selection of cheeses and French bread.

And it was early to bed because I had said while we are here we simply had to visit the panda breeding centre. She'd never seen one so was keen but the advice was to go early, once they have been fed they all bugger off back to bed – a lot like Alice. It was interesting but involved a lot of walking even after we took an electric buggy ride. We stayed a couple of hours and were lucky to get a taxi that dropped a new arrival off. He gave us the option of staying off-meter for a fixed ¥50 price, which I accepted seeing as the fare to get there had been that anyway. Good move, there were a lot more jams going back. And he also mentioned a main route being blocked off so now I have no idea if I was ripped off or not when we got to Chengdu.

I might take her down for lunch when she wakes up again and plan to stay here tonight. Go and guzzle the sauvignon and gin in the lounge in the evening and then treat her to a room service dinner, another first for her.