This morning (June 5th) the transfer to the airport was scheduled for 11:30, which did not give me much of an opportunity to explore, so I had breakfast at the hotel (best breakfast I had at a hotel) and did some work on my photos, videos and book keeping (accounting). I chatted with a few of the others at breakfast.
At 11:30 we departed for the airport. It took about an hour to arrive from the hotel. It was raining slightly as well. After checking in I went through security (which made me remove all my camera lenses in addition to my camera body and laptop) and spent some time in the Air China lounge.
The flight departed for Toronto as scheduled and I may or may not have gotten sleep – It certainly didn’t feel like it and there wasn’t an empty seat on the plane. I luckily had an aisle seat because at least I was able to use the computer a little and stretch my legs.
Upon arriving into Toronto I proceeded to use my global entry kiosk (after going through another round of security) to enter the United States directly without entering Canada. I popped up into the Air Canada lounge for about 20 minutes before going to the gate. The flight was delayed about 30 minutes because they didn’t have the aircraft at the gate. The plane was pretty empty.
I arrived in Houston around midnight, then got my checked luggage and waited for the parking lot shuttle bus. By the time I got home it was around 01:30 on the 6th.
I was happy with the trip and would definately recommend China as a destination for a holiday.