{"id":2587,"date":"2017-08-11T01:37:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T17:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=2587"},"modified":"2017-08-19T04:44:55","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T20:44:55","slug":"journey-to-the-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/11\/journey-to-the-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey to the States"},"content":{"rendered":"

I accepted offer from the Graduate School of University of Maryland, and this summer I embarked on a trip to US that would hopefully lead to a bright new chapter in my life.<\/p>\n

In short, from my home city of Hangzhou(\u676d\u5dde), it was a Cathay Dragon flight to Hong Kong, connecting onto an Air China flight to Beijing, and then the next morning another Air China flight to Newark, after which I would take Amtrak to Union Station, Washington DC, after which it was a Uber ride to College Park, Maryland, where my school was located.
\nFrom the moment I decided on this itinerary, I knew it would be phenomenal.
\n

\"Check-in<\/a>

<\/br>Check-in Counters at Hangzhou Airport International Terminal<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n


\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

How it began<\/span><\/h3>\n

The reason I booked such crazy itinerary was mostly out of economic concerns (and it’s fun by the way). Given this was in the middle of summer (and I was probably looking at a single trip ticket to US), and Washington DC was not a competitive market for China-US flights, I was looking at single trip fares like 1500+USD which was way too much.
\nThat is, until a friend of mine told me about this Air China Hong Kong<\/em> campaign offering 5000 HKD return trip from Hong Kong to New York in the middle of summer, freely changeable and 600HKD refund fee. He stayed in Guangzhou(\u5e7f\u5dde), a short boat or train ride to Hong Kong, and he would be attending Columbia University, so this Air China promotion was perfect for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

I guessed Air China offered promotions like this because it counted as international-to-international transfer, a market Air China tried to seize (but they won’t be able to). So Air China authorized its Hong Kong affiliate to sell tickets so cheaply, while for trips originating inside Mainland China, it’s a totally different story. I chose not to believe the conspiracy theory that this has something to do with Air China being a puppet of Chinese Government exerting influence in this rogue state.<\/del><\/span><\/p>\n

As for getting from Hangzhou to Hong Kong, it’s a no-brainer using my British Airways miles for a Cathay Dragon award flight. This would be my first award flight by the way.<\/p>\n

Travel Documents<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nFor citizens of the People’s Republic of China, click this text to display this part.<\/summary>\n

In theory, as a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, I needed “Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau” (“Card” for short, gosh it’s a long name) with two visit permits, one for outbound trip and one for inbound trip, at least that’s what the local police station told me.<\/p>\n

But the fact was that, for my outbound trip, I was only asked about this “Card” by the check-in agent of the Cathay Dragon flight. Chances were that she didn’t check my visit permits, so “Card” along with no permits should be fine.<\/p>\n

After that, when leaving Chinese borders, I just showed the guy my connecting Air China ticket, and he bought into my story of connecting from Hong Kong to Newark, and so did the guy at Hong Kong immigration. No questions asked.<\/p>\n

Given the recent Air China incident of denied boarding at Paris, I thought it’s best to prepare the “Card” with visit permits for the outbound trip, although “Card” along won’t hurt. You only got passport, chances were that you won’t persuade the check-in agents in China and won’t get boarding passes.\n<\/p>\n<\/details>\n

KA623 from Hangzhou to Hong Kong<\/span><\/h3>\n

So on the morning of August 9th, my parents dropped me off at Hangzhou Airport. After a not-so-emotional goodbye, I stepped inside the Airport’s international departure hall, only to learn that check-in for this 8am flight wouldn’t begin until 6am.
\nAfter that, I learned the security lines won’t open until 6:35am.<\/p>\n

Well, I don’t think “open-late” was a passenger-friendly feature, not at all for business travelers hoping to enjoy lounge comfort (by the way I heard that the lounge at Hangzhou Airport International Terminal sucks). If passengers must be held waiting, better keep them on benches than in lines.
\nBy the way, it’s awesome that a few counters were enough to perform check-in for an A333 in an hour.
\n

\"Flight<\/a>

<\/br>Flight Information Display Board<\/br>Oops, something wrong…<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Pass<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Air<\/a>

<\/br>Air Macau A320<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hong<\/a>

<\/br>Hong Kong Airlines A320<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"International<\/a>

<\/br>International Terminal Interior<\/p><\/div>
\nWell, we were the first passengers to use this international terminal on that morning, and to my both surprise and disgust, I found there were quite a few cleanness issues with the terminal floor, with biscuit scrapes and stains all over the place. Didn’t they clean it up after the last passengers the previous night?
\n

\"Sichuan<\/a>

<\/br>Sichuan Airlines A332<\/br>Just back from Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Flight to Hong Kong<\/p><\/div>
\nOur flight’s boarding was on time that morning, but after that we waited on the ground for almost 30 minutes for air traffic clearance, which was typical of Chinese departures.
\n

\"Safety<\/a>

<\/br>Safety Card onboard Cathay Dragon A333<\/br>Well, this type of safety card was only for four of Cathay Dragon’s planes: HLJ, HLK, LAA, LAB.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nAs for the plane, it was an A333 older than me. So although Cathay Dragon fitted it with the latest IFE systems, the flight map was still in miserable resolution.
\n

\"Gulfstream<\/a>

<\/br>Gulfstream G650 (N102BG)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"United<\/a>

<\/br>United Airlines B789 (N27959)<\/br>United is terminating its Hangzhou \u2013 San Francisco service, so its sight won’t be seen soon at Hangzhou.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nThat morning the safety belt sign for our flight was turned off at near 2200 meters in elevation, the earliest I’d seen. I guessed the cabin crew was eager to serve meals to hunger passengers, but this might be just way too early.
\nCompared with Chinese Mainland carriers, the safety belt sign was usually turned off after cruising.<\/span>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of Linpu(\u4e34\u6d66)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over City of Fuyang(\u5bcc\u9633)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Tonglu(\u6850\u5e90)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Tonglu(\u6850\u5e90)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Breakfast\"<\/a>

<\/br>Breakfast<\/br>I picked seafood noodles, and I shall say this was my best meal in the air so far. The noodles got that elasticity that one could hardly feel it’s refrigerated and heated onboard.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nWell, since this was Cathay Dragon, I was expecting H\u00e4agen-Dazs ice creams, which didn’t come. Well, guess this was part of Cathay group’s cost cut.
\n

\"Villages<\/a>

<\/br>Villages in South China<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Clouds<\/a>

<\/br>Clouds over South China<\/br>I guess the greyish clouds were exhausts from other airplanes.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Clouds<\/a>

<\/br>Clouds over South China<\/p><\/div>
\nSince we were flying West into Hong Kong, I was expecting to catch some views of the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong. However, the cloud base over Hong Kong was pretty low that day, so there’s not much to see.
\n

\"Heng<\/a>

<\/br>Heng On Neighborhood<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"CUHK<\/a>

<\/br>CUHK Campus behind Clouds<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tai<\/a>

<\/br>Tai Lam Chung Reservoir<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tai<\/a>

\"Tai<\/a><\/br>Tai Lam Chung Neighborhood<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Siu<\/a>

<\/br>Siu Lam San Tsuen<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hong<\/a>

<\/br>Hong Kong Gold Coast<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Harbor<\/a>

<\/br>Harbor by Tuen Mun<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Castle<\/a>

<\/br>Castle Peak Power Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Workboats<\/a>

<\/br>Workboats by Hong Kong Airport<\/br>Filling the sea for Hong Kong Airport’s expansion.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"American<\/a>

<\/br>American Airlines B77W(N736AT)<\/br>Just arrived from Los Angeles and heading for Dallas.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Planes<\/a>

<\/br>Planes at Hong Kong Airport Midfield Concourse<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tail<\/a>

<\/br>Tail of Cathay Pacific A359(B-LRQ)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Arrival<\/a>

<\/br>Arrival Passage at Hong Kong Airport<\/p><\/div>
\nThere’s an Air China transfer counter just before Hong Kong immigration. I guessed that if I resorted to them, they would help retrieve my checked bag and check it onto my connecting flight. But since I’d like to enter Hong Kong for departure tax refund, and there were already some people waiting at that counter, I just went past it.<\/p>\n

CA112 from Hong Kong to Beijing<\/span><\/h3>\n

Then there’s the not-so-nice experience with Air China’s Hong Kong ground staff. Well, since my Cathay Dragon flight was on time, I had more than enough time to make it to my connecting flight of CA112. With Hong Kong Airport’s free WiFi, I learned on FlightRadar24 that both CA112 and CA102 before it were delayed, expectedly. And the ground staff at Hong Kong insisted that the previous flight CA102 was full, so he could only check me onto my original flight of CA112.
\nAnd then it seemed that Air China changed the plane model from A333 to A332, and in doing this invalidating my seat reservations. So there’s this painstaking process of selecting seats at check-in counter.
\nAfter that, the not-so-friendly ground staff told me that my bag was overweight. Well, this was the first time I was having difficulties checking in a 27kg bag with 23*2kg allowance. (I knew this didn’t happen with AA.) I resolved this by bringing out a laptop from my bag, only to realize later that I got a spare backpack in that bag, and I could have check two bags…<\/p>\n

After that, it was departure tax refund in the main concourse. Since there’s nobody else before the counter, I got my lunch money of 120HKD in minutes.
\n

\"Hong<\/a>

\"Hong<\/a><\/br>Hong Kong Airport Departure Hall<\/p><\/div>
\nAfter security in Hong Kong Airport there’s a huge food court, and expectedly, McDonald’s was the most popular one. Since it’s lunch peak hours, there’s some difficulties finding an empty seat.
\n

\"Hong<\/a>

\"Hong<\/a><\/br>Hong Kong Airport Passenger Terminal Interior<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Singapore<\/a>

<\/br>Singapore Airlines A388<\/br>In this photo one could see that tropical rain was pouring down at the distant apron, but it took several more seconds for the rain to reach near apron (and terminal windows).<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hong<\/a>

<\/br>Hong Kong Airport and Surrounding Mountains<\/p><\/div>
\nThere were occasional downpours that day in Hong Kong, so the airport capacity was greatly impeded as I watched the incoming plane for my flight circled around South China Sea for like half an hour.
\n

\"Air<\/a>

<\/br>Air China A332(B-6115)<\/br>My plane to Beijing.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nAfter my plane arrived, we sat in the passenger terminal for like 2 more hours waiting for air traffic control clearance. This wasn’t too bad as some flights to Beijing or Shanghai just got cancelled all together.
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding Passes<\/p><\/div>
\nThe schedule takeoff time for CA112 was 1410 and arrival time 1730, but after boarding, we were told there’s another 30 minutes of waiting making our expected takeoff at 1800, our captain told us this was due to military activities near Beijing and weather along the route.
\n

\"Uni<\/a>

<\/br>Uni Air A321 (B-16210)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hong<\/a>

<\/br>Hong Kong Airport Runway 25L<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Clouds<\/a>

<\/br>Clouds over Zhujiang River Estuary<\/br>One could see runway of Macau Airport just under the clouds.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Dinner<\/a>

<\/br>Dinner Service<\/br>I picked “chicken curry rice”, which wasn’t plain rice and I won’t complain, although there’s barely any chicken in it. I knew the other choice “beef rice” sucked.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

\"Sunset<\/a><\/br>Sunset over Air China A332 Wing<\/p><\/div>
\nJust North of Wuhan(\u6b66\u6c49) we were instructed to hold in circle for like 10 minutes, that’s why I got these spectacular shots of sunset glow over our wing. I guessed this was mostly due to weather as soon we were flying right along some thundering clouds.
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over Zhengzhou(\u90d1\u5dde) Airport<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Luckily that night we landed on the right runway of 01, so it was just a short taxi to, sadly, apron. But at least we didn’t need to wait for the shuttle bus (how did I have such low expectation for Chinese Airports?).
\nAnd I got my checked bags rather quickly, which wasn’t characteristic of Beijing Capital Airport. (Or maybe it’s because this wasn’t a long-haul flight so not everybody has got checked bags?)<\/p>\n

\"Air<\/a>

<\/br>Air China B738 (B-5485)<\/br>Just arrived from Zhengzhou(\u90d1\u5dde).<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Since Air China provided free hotels for overnight transfer at Beijing (my friend told me about this), I signed up through their rather obscure and outdated website. So after that it was a bus ride to a hotel designated by Air China.<\/p>\n

\"Yinyang(\u94f6\u6d0b)<\/a>

\"Yinyang(\u94f6\u6d0b)<\/a><\/br>Yinyang(\u94f6\u6d0b) Hotel Interior<\/br>Air China designated hotel.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Although online comments were mostly negative about the hotels provided by Air China, but I’m rather pleased with what Yinyang Hotel offered me, a good night’s sleep. Well, they were at the bottom of Air China’s hotel options and their WiFi wasn’t up to speed, but since it’s free and I slept well, I’m fine.<\/p>\n

CA819 from Beijing to Newark<\/span><\/h3>\n

So the next morning guys at the hotel woke me up for a 6-am shuttle to the airport. My flight was schedule at 0920, which left me plenty of time for bag drop and security.<\/p>\n

Since Beijing was Air China’s hub, there’s an unbelievably large volume of passengers taking their early domestic flights out of Beijing, so there’s a huge line in front of basically every Air China counter.
\nThe end result was that there’s like 3 counters for two flights to New York and Newark, one 77W and one 748, the two biggest models of Air China fleet, so we got like the longest lines of all Air China counters. But at least they opened early, and nobody was left out.<\/p>\n

After an abnormally long lines at the bag drop counters, there’re few people waiting at the border and security. Guess early morning wasn’t peak hours for international departures.<\/p>\n

\"Cathaty<\/a>

<\/br>Cathaty Pacific B772(B-HNB)<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Air<\/a>

<\/br>Air China B77W(B-2087)<\/br>My plane to Newark.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Boarding<\/a>

<\/br>Boarding My Flight to Newark<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

It seemed that secondary security check for US-bound flights were eased up a little bit to random checks. So I saw some of my fellow passengers were able to sneak water onboard, which was quite useful as Air China didn’t provide any bottled waters for passengers.<\/p>\n

\"Planes<\/a>

<\/br>Planes at Beijing Airport T3E<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Air<\/a>

<\/br>Air China B744 at Beijing Airport T3C<\/br>Based on the gate where it’s parked, this B744 should be operating Air China’s Beijing-Shanghai Express. Air China was retiring its B744 fleet, so its sight won’t be around for long.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Our takeoff was 32 minutes late<\/del> should be considered on time by Beijing Airport standards. Guessed due to air traffic congestion, we used Mongolian airspace for our journey North, same as my last year’s AA flight to Chicago.<\/p>\n

\"Inner<\/a>

<\/br>Inner Mongolian Mountains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Inner<\/a>

\"Inner<\/a><\/br>Inner Mongolian Plains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"China-Mongolia<\/a>

<\/br>China-Mongolia Border<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Mongolian<\/a>

<\/br>Mongolian Plains<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

One thing about the seats, that I found it’s equipped with the best IFE system I’d ever seen. First, Air China was aware that movies were shot in 21:9 aspect ratio, so it left blanks instead of cutting screen, sadly, only for some of the movies provided. And the route map was of incredible resolution, one of the best I’d seen. Well, those were the only two aspects I cared, and I felt quite comfortable with what Air China offered.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a>

<\/br>First Meal Service<\/br>I picked chicken and rice (another option was beef and rice), which was only decent, as I’m not a big fan of plain white rice. The salad in the upper-left looked nice, the fruits in the upper-center not so nice (plain watermelon looked cheap). The butter provided was way too salty.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Expectedly for Air China, the whole cabin crew completely disappeared after meal services, except for occasional water services, which weren’t as frequent as my China Eastern flight to Chicago this April.<\/p>\n

\"Russia<\/a>

<\/br>Russia Mountains<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Bathroom<\/a>

<\/br>Bathroom Onboard Air China B77W<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Second<\/a>

<\/br>Second Meal Services<\/br>I picked chicken noodles. With the noodles by Cathay Dragon as a reference, these noodles by Air China didn’t seem so nice. The cake in the upper-center was barely decent, and I’m not a big fan of the bread provided.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Air China provided the second meal service halfway into flight, with it came an additional sandwich (which I guessed should count as “third light meal” just before landing). Quite a few passengers didn’t consume that sandwich onboard, which created some trouble at US customs (since they didn’t allow fruits in).<\/p>\n

\"Village<\/a>

<\/br>Village of Lake Placid<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Interstate<\/a>

<\/br>Interstate 87 in Upper New York<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Saratoga Springs<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Schenectady<\/a>

<\/br>Schenectady Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Schenectady<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Village<\/a>

<\/br>Village of Hunter<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Middletown<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmland<\/a>

<\/br>Farmland in South New York<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Greenwood<\/a>

<\/br>Greenwood Lake Airport<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hill<\/a>

<\/br>Hill Top Airport and Gravel Pit<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of Pompton Lakes<\/br>With its quarries.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"City<\/a>

<\/br>City of Paterson<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

To stay away from sunshine, I wisely picked a seat on the starboard side, so there’s no sights of the big apple before landing, and downtown Newark wasn’t nearly as exciting as New York.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/a>

<\/br>South Bergen County<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of Lyndhurst<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"North<\/a>

<\/br>North Arlington<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Downtown<\/a>

<\/br>Downtown Newark and Harrison<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"PATH<\/a>

<\/br>PATH Harrison Car Maintenance Facility<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Red<\/a>

<\/br>Red Bull Arena<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Railway<\/a>

\"Railway<\/a><\/br>Railway Bridge over Passaic River<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Downtown<\/a>

<\/br>Downtown Newark<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"United<\/a>

<\/br>United Airlines B752(N14102) Taking Off<\/br>Off to Orlando.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Newark<\/a>

<\/br>Newark Liberty Airport and Downtown Newark<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Newark<\/a>

<\/br>Newark Liberty Airport Apron<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Even though I rushed as soon as I got off the airplane all the way to the immigration, there’s still like half the plane’s people in front of me, and it took at least 30 minutes for me to clear the immigration. Well, I don’t think this should be normal for US immigrations, and CBP didn’t seem to be addressing that.<\/p>\n

\"Elite<\/a>

<\/br>Elite Airways CRJ200(N96EA) Arriving<\/br>Arrived from Vero Beach.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

After that I tried to caught the aerotrain to Newark Airport Railway Station. Unfortunately, the last leg of that aerotrain was under maintenance, so it was a shuttle bus ride instead, just a lot less convenient.<\/p>\n

\"Newark<\/a>

<\/br>Newark Liberty Int’l Airport Station Platform<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"New<\/a>

<\/br>New Jersey Transit Train at Newark Liberty Int’l Airport Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Amtrak<\/a>

<\/br>Amtrak Northeast Regional Train Passing Newark Liberty Int’l Airport Station<\/p><\/div>
\nAt Newark Liberty Airport Station, I took a NJ Transit Train to Newark Penn Station, and got ready for my next leg of Amtrak Train to Washington DC.<\/p>\n

New York City Tour for 2 Hours<\/span><\/h3>\n

When I bought these Air China tickets to Newark, I knew I would be riding Amtrak to DC. Some (but very few) Amtrak trains did stop at Newark Airport Station, but my choices were limited. So I chose to depart from Newark Penn Station where trains were more frequent. (No, New York Penn Station was like too far off for me.)<\/p>\n

Partly because Amtrak’s Northeast Regional trains were cheaper later in the day, partly because I want to leave ample time in case the lines were miserable at Newark Airport, so when I arrived at Newark Penn Station there’s like 3 hours left before my train departed.
\nWell, I could have changed to an earlier train (for a sizeable fee), but I chose to check my two bags (yes, Amtrak did this for free, and Newark was one of the few stations where they offered this service), and then took a PATH subway to New York, where I could spend two hours touring the city.<\/p>\n

\"Newark<\/a>

<\/br>Newark Penn Station Information Board<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Newark<\/a>

<\/br>Newark Penn Station Ceilings<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sign<\/a>

<\/br>Sign of Newark Penn Station<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

There’s quite some distance between Newark Penn Station and New York. But since the PATH train only called at like 5 stations along the way, I was in the futuristic World Trade Center Station in half an hour.<\/p>\n

\"PATH<\/a>

\"PATH<\/a><\/br>PATH World Trade Center Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"World<\/a>

<\/br>\"World<\/a><\/br>World Trade Center Station Interior<\/br>Lovingly decorated in such a modern style.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Buildings<\/a>

<\/br>Buildings around World Trade Center<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"World<\/a>

<\/br>World Trade Center Building<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Buildings<\/a>

<\/br>Buildings in Lower Manhattan<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

After that I proceeded to Federal Hall, a National Memorial building in lower Manhattan. I tried to visit it during my first visit to New York City, and found it only opened during the week.<\/p>\n

Federal Hall<\/span><\/h4>\n

\nFederal Hall, built in 1700 as New York’s City Hall, later served as the first capitol building of the United States of America under the Constitution, as well as the site of George Washington’s inauguration as the first President of the United States under the Constitution. It was also where the United States Bill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress. The building was demolished in 1812, where later Federal Hall National Memorial was built in 1842 as the United States Custom House.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Federal<\/a>

<\/br>Federal Hall Entrance<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Plaque<\/a>

<\/br>Plaque Dedicated to George Washington’s Inaugural<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Model<\/a>

<\/br>Model of Vaults storing Goods in Federal Hall<\/br>In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln converted this building from a US custom house into a branch of US Independent Treasure System. Money, bonds, gold certificates were stored here.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Federal<\/a>

<\/br>Federal Hall Interior<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

This was only a small dome, and I guessed the first congressmen must have a hard time squeezing under this tiny roof.<\/p>\n

\"Federal<\/a>

<\/br>Federal Hall Dome<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Model<\/a>

<\/br>Model of Original City Hall<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Model<\/a>

<\/br>Model of City Hall with Washington Inaugural<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

After that, I wandered around in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\"World<\/a>

<\/br>World Trade Center among Buildings in Lower Manhattan<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Jacob<\/a>

<\/br>Jacob Mould Fountain<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"New<\/a>

<\/br>New York City Hall<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Media<\/a>

<\/br>Media Activity before New York City Hall<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"High-rise<\/a>

<\/br>High-rise Building in Lower Manhattan<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Irish Hunger Memorial<\/span><\/h4>\n

\nThe Memorial, designed by artist Brian Tolle, contains stones from each of Ireland’s 32 counties and is elevated on a limestone plinth, and represents a rural Irish landscape with an abandoned stone cottage, stone walls, fallow potato fields and the flora on the north Connacht wetlands. It is both a metaphor for the Great Irish Famine and a reminder that hunger today is often the result of lack of access to land.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Irish<\/a>

<\/br>Irish Hunger Memorial<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Irish<\/a>

\"Irish<\/a><\/br>Irish Hunger Memorial Entrance<\/p><\/div>
\nTo keep the grass in its greeny state, the Memorial used sprinklers to water them. However, those sprinklers won’t well-tuned, so they sometimes sprinkled water onto the stone trail, and it’s a road-crossing game to avoid them.
\n

\"World<\/a>

<\/br>World Trade Center from Irish Hunger Memorial<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Stone<\/a>

<\/br>Stone in Irish Hunger Memorial<\/br>This looked like a tomb to me.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"New<\/a>

<\/br>New York Harbor<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

After that, I took the PATH train back to Newark Penn Station, and caught the Amtrak Train to DC.<\/p>\n

\"PATH<\/a>

<\/br>PATH Platform at World Trade Center Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Newark<\/a>

<\/br>Newark Penn Station Platform<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"New<\/a>

<\/br>New Jersey Transit Train at Newark Penn Station<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Amtrak<\/a>

<\/br>Amtrak Train Arriving at Newark Penn Station<\/br>My train to Washington DC.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that Amtrak Northeast Regional Train was badly delayed, and I just missed the last MARC train from DC to College Park. So I called an Uber instead, and made my way to College Park, Maryland where I would be spending the night.
\nEnd of a phenomenal journey.
\nEND<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I accepted offer from the Graduate School of University of Maryland, and this summer I embarked on a trip to US that would hopefully lead to a bright new chapter in my life. In short, from my home… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[214,176,216,220,180,217,219,218],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2587"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2627,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587\/revisions\/2627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}