#AtoZChallenge in China: Adventure on April Fools' Day

And now we’ve just begun!
By the time of writing (7.30pm BJT) I’m at our tour group’s rendezvous somewhere in Beijing. We’re going to Long Island (长岛 Chángdǎo), a county in Yantai, Shandong Province (山东省烟台市), where we will spend a long weekend holiday.
When I first saw the announcement by Foreigner China Network (FCN) about this trip, I got so excited since this will be my first trip to Shandong. And of course, I miss the sea and the feel of looking at the clear night sky — both of which are not readily available in Beijing. 

It looks impressive, as are with FCN’s other trips as well. I’ve been touring with them since January, and three of my four Bucket List destinations are their cheap tour offerings.
Our depature time seems to be delayed as lots of vehicles are clogging major thoroughfares in Beijing. It’s Qingming 清明节 here, a 3-day festival to commemorate the ancestors and the dead. It’s like All Saints Day in China.

Speaking of our departure, it will take us whopping 12 hours to get to Long Island. If it’s worth the ride, I shall know since I will be covering this trip for my regular Bucket List column on beijingkids website.
UPDATE 1 (11.43pm) We’re one-thirds our way to Yantai! 6 more grueling hours on the bus!

And looking at the map, it looks like the virtual distance between Beijing and Yantai is almost the same as the distance between Yantai and Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
If you look at this, Yantai and Seoul lie almost on the same longitude. So technically if there’s a big ferry there I can cross Bohai Sea and go to Seoul.

UPDATE 2 (1203am): Just after I posted my first update, a minor brawl happened. One Chinese lady (CL) reclined too comfortably that she almost occupied the leg space of the Russian lady (RL) and her guy buddy (GB) behind her. RL and GB, who are both conversant in Chinese, asked CL to adjust her seat but she didn’t care until RL raised her voice. In what would be an attractive brouhaha, CL rose up and *almost* slapped RL. During the ensuing shouting match, the tour managers, four Chinese ladies, went to our side and called for calm. RL and GB ended up seating in the front while CL and her buddy took the back seat.
So this is my first-ever eyewitness account of how obnoxious… oh, never mind. Lol
A is for Adventure on April Fool’s Day
It’s very fitting right? It seems that I got the idea in just a snap but no, it took me a while before finalized the theme for my very first #AtoZChallenge. At first I thought of doing short blog stories like x-number of word stories, or even romance! But I felt they’re not the right themes for this edition.
As I’ve said in my theme reveal, I embarked on my journey in China when I went back from vacation in the UK and Russia.
First going to Temple of Heaven, then to the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall round three, I must say I fell in love with what China has to offer in terms of culture and tourism.

By the time I reached writing this point, our bus has not yet arrived. I overheard our tour leader that our bus was stuck in a traffic jam on the way to our rendezvous at Huixinxijie Nankou subway station (惠新西街南口地铁站). And it seems that I and other tourists in our group will wait here for a good hour.
Tomorrow, I will be writing about our arrival and tour of Long Island, so yeah — let me know your thoughts!
Featured photo shows Cuandixia 爨地下 village in Beijing.