Week 33: Before Istanbul ✈️🌍

This week is my last week in China 🇨🇳. Right now, I’m chilling at Beijing Airport, waiting for my flight to Istanbul.

I always wanted to write an Android app to control device volume over Bluetooth 🎧📱. The reason? My Samsung watch can’t pair with iPhone 😅. But recently I got a new pair of earplugs with volume control, so the problem kinda solved itself. Still, I couldn’t resist watching some tutorials on YouTube.

Another fun discovery — I came across this AI-enhanced video doodle tool 🖊️🎥. It’s basically a video editor that lets you draw doodles directly on videos. Pretty cool!

The journey so far 🚆🚌

• Left Dalian at 1:00 PM.
• Took a 5-hour train to Beijing Chaoyang Station.
• The station is new, but no underground line yet. Instead, you hop on buses to the city center 🚍.
• The bus stops felt a lot like the Shenzhen Bay → Hong Kong ones.
• No. 413 bus takes you to the Airport Express Line for just 1 yuan! 💸
• Grabbed some food at Dongzhimen 🍜, then switched to the Airport Line → T3. That costs 26 yuan.

Beijing Airport even has a small train that takes you between terminals 🚊. My international terminal is T3.

The border check this time was smoother than in Nanjing ✅. They still asked about my travel plans, money, and why I wasn’t flying directly from Liaoning.

What’s next ✨

This is just half the journey. After landing in Istanbul, I think there’ll be a free meal 🍽️ (hopefully 🤞). Then, I’ll continue on to Estonia 🇪🇪, where Karl — my assigned school buddy — will be waiting for me. Can’t wait! 🙌