Patty's Travel Blog - China

Statement

Day Two - January 12, 2010

Part 1

We left Anchorage this morning before the sun came up (9:30 AM and still dark!) and headed to our first stop, Yokota Air Force Base in Japan to refuel. Our flight time is 8 hours and we will not get to our final destination in Beijing (another 3 plus hours of flight time) until 11 PM PST. We cross the international date line. For us it will be Tuesday at 4 PM PST when we land in China.

Part 2

We arrived at the Yokota Air Force Base in Japan to refuel in the snow! They tell us the weather is very rare for this time of year. While in Japan, we met with officials from the U.S. Embassy led by James Zumwalt, the Deputy Chief of Mission who briefed us on the new government in Japan and the state of the country's relationship with China. I also had the opportunity to bring up the issue of parental abductions as we have been working with several American fathers who have been denied access to their children. It was a good discussion. Mr Zumwalt also emphasized the need for educational and cultural exchanges and said how much they benefited both countries.

We then left the base and after being de-iced took off at 1:15 pm (8:15 pm PST) for Beijing!

Part 3

This has been one very long day. After being greeted at the airport officially and checking in to our hotel, U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman hosted us for an informal dinner at his residence with a number of different American businesses. Representatives from Microsoft, Fluke Electronics and Motorola gave us presentations on many of the opportunities and challenges their businesses face in China. It is now 4:15 AM back in Washington state and it has been a long day of travel, but we are already engaged in interesting and critical discussions about our economic links to China. We are all ready to go back and get some sleep before tomorrow's meetings.

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