The Joys of Traveling in China

I am in China! I made it! Lifelong goal checked off. In the first few days here, I have experienced nearly every method of travel possible. One thing is for certain. Traveling in China is different than in America. VERY different.

(Warning; this is a LONG post. I suggest only reading it while eating ice cream)






Plane

My journey began in Salt Lake city. I had a nice flight from Salt Lake to LA. Nothing too fancy here. Just your normal flight. I enjoyed the entire back row all to myself. Seemed like a wonderful start to a long journey. A journey much, much too long.

My flight to China was from San Fransisco, so why I had to go to LA first is beyond me. Here are a few things you should know about LA. It is the worst airport in the entire US of A. OK. I guess that is only one thing. I think the airport in LA was designed so that people would stay in LA (seems to be working). I supposed the officials of LA decided that if they made the airport bad enough, people would avoid leaving the city just so they had one less time they had to endure the airport.

I wasn't set to fly to San Fransisco till early next morning which meant I had the pleasure of spending the night at LAX. When spending the night at an airport, your main objective is to find a nice comfortable and quiet place near your next flight where you won't be disturbed. So my first task was to find where my next flight would be. My ticket didn't tell me which terminal it was at, so I wandered the airport for a while seeing all of the beautiful constructions going on. Eventually I found where I would be leaving from, but it was a terrible place to stay the night, so I ended up going back to where I was originally.

Before going to bed I tried catching up on a few emails. First task; find an outlet. Task number two; find an outlet that is NOT behind a terminal counter. Not only was LAX built without easily accessible outlets, they also do not allow you to connect to free WiFi, but have a small price of $10 for an hour or so of using the Internet. Yay. I ended up paying $1.50 to get data enabled on my phone for a day and tethered my phone to my computer. Not the fastest option, but it worked.

I found a few benches that were comfortable enough. Unfortunately, they decided to turn up the AC at night or something because it was cold (and this is coming from someone who likes the cold). I was very grateful for my hoodie and decided that someone should invent a hoodie for your legs when people decide to wear shorts. As if the cold was not enough, throughout the duration of the night the ENTIRE airport blared elevator jazz music. I don't want to be hating on instrumental Peter Centera, but at 2:00 in the morning, nothing sounds good. My one moment of solace through the night was the 20 minutes or so when they were vacuuming and the motors drowned out the background music. Oh how I longed for more noise! Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. I gave up trying at about 4:30 and went to the nearest bathroom to shave.

Finally at 6:15am I was able to leave LA and head up to San Fransisco. (Why did I have to go to LA in the first place?! Arg.) San Fransisco was like heaven compared to LA. Not only did they have outlets and free WiFi, but they had stations designed for such a thing. Near the terminal no less! My layover there was a much more tolerable three hours. I was able to use that time to catch up on emails and tried to make a few phone calls over spotty wifi connections. It was nice to say a few goodbyes while still in America.

Boarding the plane took a while as international flights usually do. I was a bit surprised as the person on the same row as me was one of the few other white guys (turns out, he would be the last white person I talked to for... ever [at the time of this writing anyhow]). There was a bit of excitement as the seat in between us was unoccupied while people where about done filing in. Turns out, that would be the sole empty seat on the plane. I guess that was a reward for enduring LAX. I got a bit more room to relax on the long flight.

I must admit that I was quite surprised at how non Chinesey the whole flight felt. Most of the stewardesses were not Chinese. All of the meals were about as American as you can get and the person next to me was as white as can be.

Eventually I arrived in China the next day around 2:00. Nearly two days of traveling thus far. All I can say is that if saving me $50 costs me an overnight stay at LAX, I may have to reconsider my frugality.

Next method of travel: The shuttle bus

In order for me to get to the train station, I had to either take a shuttle or a taxi cab. After realizing that the train station was an hour away, I decided that the bus was most likely the more realistic (cheaper) decision. I was happy to see the price for my bus ticket. 16 yuan (kuai). About $2. Not too bad.

Here is where the fun began. There was nothing unusual about the bus or the people coming in. Same as what you would see anywhere else. People talking to each other, or talking on their cell phones loudly for all to hear. What was different was the traffic! Traffic in China is crazy!

Here are some things I have noticed in China that are different from what I am used to:

• Seat belts. Seat belts in America are required so almost everyone wears them. In China, they are not, so almost no one wears them. (Yesterday when I was in a car I overheard a couple Chinese kids say "The foreigner is wearing a seat belt!").


• Lanes. In China lanes are more like guidelines. If you want to be in a lane, that is good, but if you want to drive in two lanes at once, that is fine as well. Anything goes. Also, if you are big enough (like a bus) you are more than welcome to use the lane of oncoming traffic. Just make sure that you get back in your lane when a truck bigger than you is using that lane.


• The person who cares less always has the right of way. The more you care about your car getting hit or scraped up means the more likely you are to let the other person merge or turn. Right of way is NOT determined by who got there first, or who is actually in the lane. Also size is a pretty big determining factor.


• If you are a pedestrian and need to cross the street, go ahead. Anywhere at any time is fine. Ever heard of Frogger? Pretty sure that was invented in China long before the game came out.


• Use your horn for any and every reason. If you haven't honked your horn in the last three minutes, then something is wrong or you are not in China anymore.


• Don't use mirrors, and don't look behind you. If you want to turn, or shift lanes, just do it. If someone is approaching from behind, they will (probably) slow down so they don't hit you.


• China has bicycle and scooter lanes that are nearly the same size are car lanes. Cars use these lanes all the time.

These are just a few of the differences. I am sure I will name a few more as I think of them.

Taking the bus was a fun way to make observances from a safe distance.

Next up, the rickshaw

Here was a real Chinese experience for me. As soon as I got off the bus, a guy started grabbing all my bags and just put them in the back up his bike tricycle thing. I knew it was going to cost money, so I asked him how much. He said 10 kuai. It was just for a couple blocks, but I figured it would be a fun experience, so I let him take me.

Oh; if I only knew what fun meant.

After he had started on his bike for a bit, he started talking to a girl and decided to move me and my stuff into her bike because it was electric and faster. It was fun watching all the crazy traffic on the back of a bike as we rode to the train station. It only took a couple of minutes and once we got there, the girl wanted her money. I didn't have change for 10 kuai (and the girl "claims" she didn't either) so I ended up giving her 20 kuai. So a two-minute bike ride ended up costing me more than an hour bus ride. Go figure.

At this point, the girl stayed with me and just grabbed my luggage as she walked to the train station. She kept on beckoning for me to follow her like one would with a dog. I waited in line for a good 20 minutes or so waiting to buy my ticket. I assured the girl I didn't need help anymore (I didn't want to pay more money) but she kept on staying by me. All of the train tickets for Zhengzhou were sold out for the day, so I had to buy a ticket for the next morning. Once the girl found out about this, she kept on saying that I needed a place to stay and told me to follow her while she found a place. I kept telling her that I was fine and didn't need her help until she eventually just grabbed my luggage.

When she mentioned places to spend the night, I told her that I didn't have a lot of money and the places she was recommending were too expensive. Eventually she decided to try some inexpensive places. The first place we went to said they would not accept foreigners (or something like that). So then we went to some fancy dancy hotel.

I figured she would just take me to the front desk where I could ask them how much it was to spend the night, but instead she just went into the elevator like she already had a room for me. We went to a room and inside were two guys smoking. They had a drawer full of room keys and some random paperwork. It looked like they were running some sort of underground hotel business or something like that where people didn't need verification. I don't know what they were offering, but at this point it just seemed really sketchy and I really just wanted to go back to the train station. They let me use their phone and I told my contact from the university my situation. I asked him about prices and such. Once I got off the phone I basically told the shady dudes that I was sorry but my friend found me another apartment and was meeting me at the train station (not true). I just left at this point. The girl followed. I just walked out of the hotel and the girl ran after me asking for more money. We argued back and forth for a bit and finally I paid her money for her to leave me alone.

So now I was about where I was when I got off the bus in the first place (only now with less time and money). At this point, my luggage was starting to get pretty bad. I guess the wheels got out of whack on the plane ride, so everywhere I walked my suitcase would drag. Yay.

Eventually I got back to the train station and went to the hotel attached to the train station. They were much cheaper (and less shady) then the place the girl took me to.

I checked into my room grateful to finally have some sort of break from traveling. I was sad that there was no Internet for me to send email, and I was also bummed that there was no AC, but I was relieved to finally get a shower and be in a real (mostly) bed for the first time in a couple of days. It was 8:00pm when I crashed for the day. Just jumped on the bed without any blankets because it was too hot and I slept like a baby (and by that I mean, I tossed and turned most of the night and struggled sleeping because it was so hot. But I didn't cry). It was nice to get some sleep.

I remember when trains used to be fun

I woke up at about 5:00 in the morning and could not go back to bed. After I had been up for about 30 minutes, there began an incredible lightning and thunder-storm. China is so smoggy that you can't see much and so when the first flash of lightning showed up, I was a bit confused as to what it was because it just looked like the sky lit up a bit. After a while though, the thunder made it blatantly obvious that this was a huge lightning storm and that the lightning was very close by. Not only that, but it started pouring rain. So much so that I saw a few cars driving in over a foot of water. I was certainly glad at this point that I didn't go to the other hotel. Nothing is worse than walking a half mile with luggage that is falling apart than walking in the rain with no rain gear with luggage that is falling apart. Fortunately for me, eventually the rain stopped. Once it did, I decided to leave the hotel and explore the train station to find out where I should be.

Apparently the Beijing train station is one of the biggest in Asia. To enter you had to pass through metal dectectors and have your luggage go through a scanner, just like you would at the airport. I didn't get to explore much of the train station because my gate was one of the first. I looked in the waiting room and it was jammed packed. The room was probably about the size of two basketball courts. There were thousands of people just waiting in line for the train. This is about two hours in advance. It appeared that about half the people there had camped out overnight. I basically just stood waiting in a mass of people for the next hour or so just looking around. I was the only white person there, but no one seemed to notice. Since leaving the airport, I haven't seen another white person.

Once the guard showed up, all pandemonium broke loose. No longer were people sitting or sleeping in line, but everyone got up anxious to get on the train. Eventually the line started moving like a slow blob of goo leaking out of a faucet. The line was like an entire organism. There is no way I could have stopped even if I had wanted to.

Once I got out of the gate, I was finally able to board the train. I was fortunate (though didn't realize how fortunate at the time) to have been assigned a window seat. I put my luggage on the rack and took my seat. Silently I waited and observed. Other people eventually joined me. I was not sure if they would be with me for the whole trip or not. Since Zhengzhou was quite far, I assumed that most of these people would leave before I got to my destination.

The train ride began normal enough. I was excited to be on a train again. After about three minutes, I realized that we had hit our peak speed. It was not very fast. In fact; it was not fast at all. Perhaps 45 – 50 MPH at the fastest. I realized at this point that I was in for a long trip. Little did I know...

The first hour of the trip was really not bad at all. I enjoyed watching out the window as I left the city, wondering if the pollution would get less and less the further away from Beijing we moved (it never did). I was able to take a short little nap even. After an hour or so in the train I started to observe those seated next to me as they got more comfortable. The seating was situated with three seats and then the aisle; very similar to an airplane. Unlike an airplane though, the seats alternate, so that you are facing other people. I watched as the man across from me started eating chicken feet. This was not so bad or unusual, but when he got the bone, he would just spit it out on the floor. Eventually there was a large pile of chicken bone on the ground. As time progressed, most passengers tried to sleep. One decided to sleep on me. It wasn't one of those things where he started nodding off and slowly moved his head with the vibrations of the train. Nope he just gave a yawn, then plopped his body on my side, and his head on my shoulder. I think I even overheard some other passenger say "tebie" (special). I didn't sleep too well with that going on. Fast forward for another hour or so; the guy next to me coughs while he is eating and I get some nice yellow stuff on my arm. Yay. The last two hours of the train ride I got to spend with a man next to me playing the TV on his phone with the volume turned up all the way. So yeah... all of these guys are the same guy. We had a special bond by the end of our nine-hour journey.

To be quite honest, looking at the Chinese countryside was quite nice and would have been very enjoyable if the seats weren't so hard and if I could have moved my legs a little. After the first few hours of not being able to move your legs they begin to make lovely country side look a lot more pollutiony (which it was).

There were some positives of the train ride though. The first is that it was ridiculously inexpensive. 94 kuai (about $15). The second positive was getting off the bus. Not only was getting off the bus a relief, but that is when I ran into the first person who genuinely wanted to help me. It was a nice man who let me walk when no one else would. He even helped me with one of my bags. After I got out, I thanked him and asked him if he knew where the south-west exit was (when there are no mountains and the sun is hiding behind pollution, it is hard to get your directions right). He said that was the first time he had been to that train station and he didn't know where anything was, so he ran and flagged down a girl about my age. At that point she took over (grabbed one of my bags) and led me to the exit till I found Tom waiting for me with a sign that said "McKay."

Taxis and Cars

Tom is a student at the university where I will be teaching. He was sent by the contact I have at the university (who at the time of this writing I have still yet to meet). Tom was very helpful and took my bags and helped me load them in the taxi.

I won't go into details about how crazy the taxi was because the next day was even crazier. Sufficeth to say the taxi was crazy and relatively inexpensive as well (10 kuai. About $1.50).

Tom was very gracious and showed me around. He took me out to eat (I hadn't eaten a thing since the airplane more than a day previous) then he showed me around campus. We saw a guy and girl playing ping-pong on the outdoor concrete tables. Tom asked them if we could play. So we did. It was fun.

After spending a day cleaning my apartment (another blog post to be sure), Cathy knocked on my door and invited me to dinner. Cathy is the lady I met in Utah who got me the job in the first place. She was with a girl about my age and they were on their way to eat dinner with Cathy's family. Her brother was the driver and they had me sit in the front seat.

This is probably the most fun I have had in a car. Ever.

Right off the bat, they mentioned how I put on my seatbelt and said something to the effect of "most people don't do that here." I am pretty sure there is no place I would rather wear a seat belt than in China.

To leave the school we drove on the cross walk (with people walking). Just drove right through the middle of the crowd of people. At this point it was just the normal crazy driving, but Cathy's brother didn't know where he was going, so there were many occasions where he would start to go one way, then everyone would yell at him to go the other way.

Some of the things I saw while driving to the restaurant:

• People randomly crossing the road getting literally within inches of large busses.


• Cars in the middle of lanes waiting to decide which lane will end up being the faster one (this is always interesting as you could probably just reach out your arm and grab the steering wheel through the open window; that is how close cars get to each other).


• Entire families on scooter or mopeds.


• Not only did I see a father and mother with the mother holding their sleeping infant, but they were driving against traffic on the wrong side of the street.


• There was another instance where there was a sleeping toddler and his head was hanging over one side and his legs on the other.

There were many many other crazy things. Eventually I hope to get this all documented through photos.

Needless to say, traveling in China is fun and cheap. Looks like this is my kind of place.