Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 415 Landing in Tokyo
On the afternoon of September 23, Yan Hui and his family of seven, including his parents, grandmother, younger sister, two translators (who also served as tour guides), boarded a flight to Tokyo.

2008 was a brand new opportunity for China to take off.

2001年刚加入WTO的时候，我国的GDP是1.34万亿美元，这个数字到2008年变成了4.59万亿美元，而2016年则达到了11.23万亿美元。

Two years later, China's GDP exceeded $6 trillion for the first time, surpassing Japan, and is expected to reach 4.5 times that of Japan by 2024.

From the perspective of 2008, Japan was still very powerful, especially in areas such as the automotive industry, where we seemed to be far behind. In fact, Japan did have many strengths over us, and Yan Hui was curious about this; he wanted to see exactly where those strengths lay.

Yan Hui brought two translators. One was a Japanese translator named Qiu Chen, who had studied at a university in Japan. He had returned to China three years after graduation and had been working in the tourism industry related to Japan. He was quite well-known in Jinan. The other was a female graduate from Beijing Foreign Studies University named Jiang Yutong. She was 26 years old this year and had just graduated with a master's degree in Portuguese. Her English was also quite good, and she could communicate freely.

According to Yan Hui's plan, after everyone arrived in Japan, they would spend two days sightseeing in Tokyo under Qiu Chen's guidance. Afterward, Yan Hui would take Jiang Yutong to Brazil alone. After finishing their business in Brazil, the two would travel to Germany together before returning. This process would essentially take them on a round trip around the world, which was something Yan Hui had deliberately planned.

On his first trip abroad, he wanted to travel around the world so that he could put on a show when chatting with other bosses or people at the same level.

There are no direct flights from Tokyo to Rio; you have to transfer in Los Angeles. On the return trip, there's a domestic flight from Rio that also involves a transfer in Germany, so getting to Germany from there is quite convenient.

After the plane landed, Yan Hui went to see his grandmother immediately and was relieved to find that she was in good condition. His grandmother is 81 years old this year, and Yan Hui has always been worried about her health. During this trip to Japan, he even asked Qiu Chen to take his grandmother to the best hospital for a check-up.

Once inside Terminal 1, everyone looked around with curiosity, but Qiu Chen was the most excited: "This is Terminal 1, which was expanded at the end of last year. It's one of the most advanced terminals in the world! Let's all gather here and I'll take a group photo!"

Yan Hui and the other four stood together upon hearing the sound. They took a few photos of their grandmother before following Qiu Chen outside.

Qiu Chen is a professional translator and tour guide, so he booked two Alphard cars in advance, which are already waiting for everyone in the parking area.

"I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. After that, you'll only have one car, so you must take good care of them," Yan Hui and Qiu Chen said.

"Don't worry, Mr. Yan, I'm a professional!" Qiu Chen said with a smile.

Although he had worked as a tour guide for Japan for three years, he had only actually visited Japan three times in those three years. This was also the first time he had been hired as a tour guide, and the boss was very generous, paying attention to everything from food and clothing to accommodations. In other words, he not only had a high income but also enjoyed the treatment he would normally never afford.

“Okay,” Yan Hui said, and got into the car.

Yan Hui, his grandmother, and Qiu Chen shared one car, while the others shared another, making the car quite spacious. After getting in, Yan Hui instructed his grandmother, "Grandma, if anything happens or you feel unwell, be sure to tell Qiu Chen. He's a local from Quancheng, and he wouldn't dare lie to us."

Yan Hui spoke in his hometown dialect, which sounded almost like a foreign language to Qiu Chen. He wasn't afraid to spend more money now; to put it bluntly, he didn't care even if Qiu Chen was taking huge kickbacks here. All he needed to do was make sure his parents and grandmother were taken care of properly.

"Won't it cost a lot of money?" Grandma was still a little worried.

"It's alright, our family isn't short of money. Grandma, if there's anything, you can just tell my dad." Yan Hui had already told his father beforehand. There's no need to save money when traveling. With Yan Hui's current income level, as long as he doesn't buy airplanes or yachts, he can afford to spend relatively freely all over the world.

"Your grandfather never left southern Fujian his whole life. If he could see this..." Grandma looked at the flashing neon lights outside, lost in thought.

“Although Grandpa didn’t travel to many places, he had the world in his heart. The principles of life and conduct he taught me are invaluable, no matter where I go in the world,” Yan Hui said.

"Yes, that's why you're such a good child," Grandma said, holding Yan Hui's hand and stroking it.

The car arrived at the hotel quickly. Qiu Chen got out of the car and led Yan Hui and the others to complete the formalities.

There were seven people in total, in five rooms. The younger sister and grandmother shared one room, the parents shared another, and the two translators and Yan Hui each shared a room. The room cost about 3500 RMB per night, which Yan Hui, despite being quite well-off, still found a bit expensive.

"Mr. Yan, to be honest, this is the best hotel I've ever stayed in!" Qiu Chen looked around as well. "But the scenery here is really beautiful! We're just lucky; if it were during the National Day holiday, the price would probably double!"

"Japan also has a National Day holiday?" Yan Hui didn't realize it.

"No, they're wealthy tourists from China. We're always busy during holidays!"

"Oh, I'm confused. By the way, what are the plans for tonight and tomorrow?"

"We're in Shinjuku, and the night view around here is beautiful. After everyone checks in, I'll take you out to try some yakitori and then enjoy the night view," Qiu Chen explained. "Considering we have elderly people with us, and as you mentioned before, they're Buddhist, so tomorrow I plan to only arrange two places. The first is Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo's oldest temple; the second is Akihabara, a world-renowned mecca for electronics and anime culture."

"Okay, this arrangement is good. Can we go to Mount Fuji the day after tomorrow morning? Just a quick trip, maybe take some photos. Climbing the mountain is out of the question." Yan Hui couldn't resist the temptation either.

He doesn't know much about Japan either. Like many others, he feels the need to "check off" places wherever he goes, especially when taking his elderly relatives to visit.

“It’s true that you can’t climb the mountain now. I remember it was closed on September 10th. But if you want to take pictures, that’s no problem. It’s only a two-hour drive from here. Is your flight tonight?” Qiu Chen asked.

"Yes, Translator Jiang and I are departing from Narita Airport the day after tomorrow night. Our flight is at 8 PM." Yan Hui thought for a moment, "I'm referring to Beijing time. What time is it here?"

"Then there's no rush. It'll be almost an hour here, around 9 p.m.

"Okay. Follow this schedule. I'll tell my family I'm going back to my room to rest for a bit, and then I'll come downstairs for dinner in half an hour."

"Yes, Mr. Yan."

(End of this chapter)