Shanghaied in China
I was taken against my will to Shanghai.
Granted I wasn't knocked over the head and dragged onto a ship, but when airline travel is slower than the train system, I develop a pretty serious headache.
I tried calculating our average speed that we traveled, and for twelve hours I figure that we managed an average of 0.083 mph.
All this to say, Beijing has some pretty important changes to make before the Olympics in 2008.
Arriving at the Beijing airport at 9:15 am on July 31, the first step was to join the hundreds of other travelers with their mountains of luggage trying to fit through a four foot wide opening where one person collected the customs card that maybe you were saavy enough to know to fill out. No lines. Just hundreds of people trying to make room for themselves with a few good pushes of their luggage cart.
And then it was on to the airline counters where maybe you were fortunate enough to get in the line that would actually accept luggage for your flight. And maybe you found a line that didn't have a perpetual bleed of line cutters.
And then you walked through security and found the one little room that was your gate.
Now this would be just fine if it weren't for the fact that the incoming flight was delayed an hour and it was lunch time and the nearest food was a fifteen minute walk through uncertain hallways.
But even this would be manageable if there wasn't now also a delay due to mechanical problems (and who knows how long it takes to fix things?).
At 2:30 they brought out drinks for everyone.
At 3:30 they distributed a package of graham cracker-like cookies.
4:00 They brought out more drinks. (Still no word on how soon things would be fixed.)
5:00 A mob started to form. (This is when you say a prayer of thanksgiving that you do not work for the airline.)
5:45 They promised food and real news at 6:30. They also hand out forms saying that yes, our flight really is delayed due to mechanical problems.
6:15 They bring food.
7:00 We begin boarding. (Hurray! Or is this just so the mob has less room to form?)
7:45 We are told that we are waiting for a few passengers. (They probably figured they had time to go hunt down some real food... maybe they spear fished in one of the gardens.)
7:50 We now know we are waiting for a weather report.
At 8:00 we are now delayed because of bad weather.
Finally, at 8:40, the plane begins to move.
Too bad that there was now a line of airplanes waiting to fly (At least in take off they know the efficiency of having lines.)
But we did make it into the air. Twelve hours after we arrived, we were able to leave.
But as you know, I was taken to Shanghai. Aparently the Beijing airport is not equipped to take departure cards. So we flew an hour and a half, got off the plane, turned in a form, and got back on to the same plane.
Maybe next time I will travel by boat.
Granted I wasn't knocked over the head and dragged onto a ship, but when airline travel is slower than the train system, I develop a pretty serious headache.
I tried calculating our average speed that we traveled, and for twelve hours I figure that we managed an average of 0.083 mph.
All this to say, Beijing has some pretty important changes to make before the Olympics in 2008.
Arriving at the Beijing airport at 9:15 am on July 31, the first step was to join the hundreds of other travelers with their mountains of luggage trying to fit through a four foot wide opening where one person collected the customs card that maybe you were saavy enough to know to fill out. No lines. Just hundreds of people trying to make room for themselves with a few good pushes of their luggage cart.
And then it was on to the airline counters where maybe you were fortunate enough to get in the line that would actually accept luggage for your flight. And maybe you found a line that didn't have a perpetual bleed of line cutters.
And then you walked through security and found the one little room that was your gate.
Now this would be just fine if it weren't for the fact that the incoming flight was delayed an hour and it was lunch time and the nearest food was a fifteen minute walk through uncertain hallways.
But even this would be manageable if there wasn't now also a delay due to mechanical problems (and who knows how long it takes to fix things?).
At 2:30 they brought out drinks for everyone.
At 3:30 they distributed a package of graham cracker-like cookies.
4:00 They brought out more drinks. (Still no word on how soon things would be fixed.)
5:00 A mob started to form. (This is when you say a prayer of thanksgiving that you do not work for the airline.)
5:45 They promised food and real news at 6:30. They also hand out forms saying that yes, our flight really is delayed due to mechanical problems.
6:15 They bring food.
7:00 We begin boarding. (Hurray! Or is this just so the mob has less room to form?)
7:45 We are told that we are waiting for a few passengers. (They probably figured they had time to go hunt down some real food... maybe they spear fished in one of the gardens.)
7:50 We now know we are waiting for a weather report.
At 8:00 we are now delayed because of bad weather.
Finally, at 8:40, the plane begins to move.
Too bad that there was now a line of airplanes waiting to fly (At least in take off they know the efficiency of having lines.)
But we did make it into the air. Twelve hours after we arrived, we were able to leave.
But as you know, I was taken to Shanghai. Aparently the Beijing airport is not equipped to take departure cards. So we flew an hour and a half, got off the plane, turned in a form, and got back on to the same plane.
Maybe next time I will travel by boat.
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