Welcome to the beginning of Hawaii week(s)! I’m just getting around to blogging about our trip to Hawaii last year. But before arriving in Hawaii I had a looooonnng layover in Beijing. 17 hours to give or take. At that point, who’s counting?
Sly took a different, direct (work) flight to Oahu which meant that I flew solo, on a potentially sketchy Chinese airline. It was the cheapest flight that I could find at the time, given that it was peak summer season.
Since airports are kind of like mini cities these days, the idea of a long layover didn’t sound too off-putting. I initially planned to wait it out at the airport, maybe find a lounge, read a book, grab a bite to eat, and keep it simple. In the process of researching airport amenities at PEK (and discovering that there weren’t many), I realized that I could obtain a FREE 72 hour transit visa compared to the ridiculous $140 visa fee to visit mainland China.
A free visa?
My wheels began to turn.