By the time you, gentle readers, are reading these words, I should be over the North Pole.

Originally, we'd hoped to fly out of San Francisco to Hong Kong, do a little bit of cultural & time-zone decompression in the once-Westernized city, then head up to Chongqing. But compressed travel time leads to compressed choices -- because of the Trade Fair, it's far less expensive to fly into Beijing (not Hong Kong or Guangzhou, where the Fair is), and to linger a few extra days at the end of the trip and fly out on May 1, the international Labor Day holiday (because for one thing, the Trade Fair's over, and for another thing, it's always cheaper to fly on a holiday rather than right before or right after).

So, our route takes us directly from the airport next to our house to Chicago, then from Chicago over the North Pole and across the International Date Line to land in Beijing, the City of Cities.

Last time we traveled, it was via Guangzhou to Beijing, and we were in China for Christmas. Santa (wearing lucky red!) was everywhere: in hotels, outside shopping centers, trying to get customers into pizza restaurants, pretty much anywhere you could imagine. And on that trip, we flew back on New Year's Eve, which we celebrated twice (thanks again, Date Line). This time, we'll be in China over Easter, and will experience two May Days on the trip home.

That has to mean something, but I have no idea what.

When we're over the North Pole, maybe I'll catch a glimpse out the window of Santa Claus enjoying his spring break... or perhaps helping the May Queen get ready for her big day.