All roads lead to R errhh Shenzhen!
Jun 15th, 2005 by Peter
(Bear with me, since the next part is written out of memory. It is now almost 4 weeks since I left China, and some details may have slipped my mind).
There you go. I was almost ready for takeoff.
Last thing was to tell one of my brothers about the real reason for going. See when I planed going to China my brain was not functioning properly, and somehow I sweat out that my niece had confirmation in the period I was in Shenzhen. When my brother one day said: “Oh remember K’s confirmation in may” I must have looked pretty dumb. Really how stupid could I be? This is the annual time period for confirmations in Denmark and I should have guessed. Nothing else to do but say: “Sorry, but I am in China at that time”. Felt kind of awkward, since my parents heard this statement, and I could not tell my brother the true version. Yes I must have looked like a big egoistic asshole.
A day or 2 after, I had to confess and tell him the real story. The occasion was him coming around anyway, and I told him all about it. He was chocked, nothing less. He was very sad that I could not come, to his daughter’s confirmation, but he was chocked about what I was about to do. Go to China ad meet a girl I have never seen besides pictures, and also doing this all alone. He actually used the word “chocked”. Well, a few days later we talked on the phone, and he had time to think about it. Still chocked, but I think a bit more understanding to why I could not postpone the vacation :-)
Since he was now my “accomplice” he could be let in on how the trip was going to form. This was good, since he gave me a lift to the airport. One less thing to worry about :-)
Went to the check-in. No problems. Flew to Copenhagen and took a bus to the foreign flights terminal. Checked in again, but this time for Hong Kong even though I was stopping in London.
I have only once before flown outside Denmark. It was a charter trip to Greece and though it only lasted 3 hours, it gave me a sense of what to expect. I boarded the plane to London and landed at Heathrow. Walked a bit confused around since there was no obvious signs of where to go for exit. As the stupid Dane I must have looked like, I decided to ask directions at an information stand. I had plenty of time, but since I am a cautious man, and really did not have any idea of how much time it would take. Well, nothing much to it, but to go down, down, down and take the “Heathrow Express” which is the name of the subway connecting the terminals and going all the way to central London. When I went there it really was no big deal though the distances was somewhat bigger than what I was used to. Going by train 5-10 minutes with no stops spells L-A-R-G-E airport. Left the subway at the correct terminal and went up, up, up. No troubles there.
Big signs told me that my plane was departing from gate 56. Well, as always god must have been planning this just for me as a little surprise. Never feel you are on top. I was standing at the entrance and gate 56 was, of course, the last of all gates. This equals the longest walk possible (ok, I never tried walking from death row to the chair, but this sure felt long enough for me). Coursed all the way there, since I was a bit in doubt about the time. Actually I made it in fine time an even had time for a short sit-down. Used it to make a buddy phone my cellular phone and entertain me with Skype.
Now it began smelling like China. The people waiting at the gate were mostly Chinese. In the corners I could hear them talking and suddenly I felt a bit outnumbered for the first time. English may not be my first language, but I fell pretty well around people speaking it. Now the cards were on the other hand.
Soon boarding began, and I entered the Boeing 747. Many have asked me if I thought this was a big plane, and I guess it was. I was somewhat disappointed though myself. Don’t know why, but I always expected it to be bigger.
Anyway I had asked for window seat and got it. My seat buddy was a Chinese man and his wife. Couldn’t drag a word English out of them, but we exchanged polite smiles. After the takeoff I soon discovered that our section was filled with vacant seats, and my new “friends” smoothly decided to change seats. I checked my armpits, and yes, I smelled like a wet dog. Well actually I found out that these people was skilled travellers and that they just wanted 4 seats of their own so they could sleep lying down one at a time. Their act gave me the same idea, and though I am not midget like in height (172cm), I managed to crawl into an awkward position on the 3 seats where mine was one of them. Tough on the neck, but beat sleeping “upright”.
Morning rose, and I had the chance of blitzing some photos towards Tibet. Caught only a short glimpse of the mountains, but still a nice view. Ate my last breakfast and watched the plane decent over Hong Kong. Amazing sight, but really did not get the best shots with my camera. A window really can destroy an otherwise great view.
This was the turning point. Now I was all alone and could not expect anyone to understand me. At the exit the road split into 2. I almost went the wrong way because I soon found myself glaring at a big chart showing bus routes. Oh my god this was way more complicated than I thought. No bus/train went to Shenzhen like I was informed. After a long stare I decided that I should go by bus and change vehicle in a little town closer to Shenzhen. Looked pretty difficult, so I asked a uniform clad gentleman if he could help. This was the first time I got “the look”. Better known as the yes-I-will-let-you-speak-for-a-while-but-I-don’t-understand-you-you-big-white-mountain-of-nonsense-and-when-you-are-through-babling-I-will-point-in-a-direction-and-hope-someone-else-takes-over. Actually he did point, but in the opposite direction of what I would have thought.
Turns out that I was directed to a little stand with a very friendly lady that did not speak much English, but could tell that I was in need of a ride. When I mentioned the word “Shenzhen” she waved me on towards the exit leading to a bunch of cars/mini busses.
I decided to put on my stupid foreigner face and looked puzzled to the whole situation. Didn’t take me long before another friendly lady preyed on me and took me to a bus stop. Her English was bearable, though not very good.
There I was standing at the bus stop in my winter clothing, which included T-shirt, long pants, woollen sweater and a warm jacket in my hands. What went through my mind when I decided on this outfit, I will never now, but here I was looking like your average foreign fool. I decided to cram the jacket in the suitcase, while fumbling with the payment for the ride. The bus stop was filled with curious Chinese, which must have had a blast looking a Mr. Overdressed. I was very thirsty, since the heat took its toll on me, and I had the feeling that god still haven’t left my side just yet. In his own little way he decided that this was the big buy-a-shitload-of-water-and-bring-home-day for the Chinese. I don’t know what water cost in Hong Kong, but apparently it was worth bringing 200 bottles home on a bus. Not willing to indulge in yet another impossible conversation, I decided not to bargain for a bottle of water and risk dehydration.
Very soon, I spotted yet another pale face. I was tired and really did not want to talk, since all I wanted was to get to the hotel. Sometimes fate has other plans. Suddenly there was uproar among the Chinese crowd, and my guess was that the bus was late. The poor young man loading the suitcases got a mouthful. I could not help but smile a bit and casually said, “Guess something is wrong with the bus” to the other white guy. His name was Gareth. We got talking and he told me he that he had done this journey many time before. This calmed me a bit.
When I paid the fare I was awarded a “fat foreigner sticker” Gently put on my chest (the left one if you are interested). My own purple sticker with a signature and text I did not understand. Looking around the crowd this sticker was also awarded to Gareth, but none of the natives wore it. If you do not feel stupid looking before, you sure will with this “branding”. I later found out that this meant something like: “going directly to the hotel in Shenzhen”, which actually was a good deal.
Well, hopped on the bus and talked with Gareth I just met. Turns out he was from England and had a Chinese girlfriend. Got a few good advice of him, exchanged email addresses and tagged along at the checkpoint.
The checkpoint is maintained though Hong Kong is now a part of China. When we arrived the bus dropped us off and I followed Gareth through the maze looking control (from my point of view) to get my papers checked. Got the stamps and delivered an immigration form that I filled out in the bus. This is apparently normal procedure. Gareth waited for me as I sweaty as hell followed him to the bus. Fortunately I only had to bring my hand luggage and not my suitcase.
Happily I entered the bus knowing that I would not have to do this again. I was wrong.
Drove only a short while, and “doh”. Do the whole stuff again. This time I had to take my suitcase with me. Didn’t improve the sweating. “Same procedure as last year James? Same procedure as every year Miss Sophie”. Went outside and was hit by the heat again. Gareth for once looked as confused as me about where to go, and we decided to look for the bus. Went along all the buses and Gareth spotted the right one. This time without a sign saying Shenzhen.
Looking confused apparently works in China, because before long a lady in green uniform saw our “fat foreigner sticker” and grabbed us leading us to a taxi. Gareth and I decided that something was wrong and while the taxi driver found the car, we made a run for it. Made it 50m and was grabbed by the taxi driver again. Turns out that we were only 3 persons that were going to the hotel, and a taxi was cheaper for the bus company. Free of charge that is.
The driver dropped of a Chinese guy, then Gareth and at last me. That’s service. Delivered straight to the hotel. Also a good thing since I would be lost else.
I went to check in and found that loads of paperwork needed to be checked, written and so on before I could go to my room. This included showing my passport yet another time, and to my surprise also my credit card. The personnel spoke a simple English, but just enough to do the check in without many misunderstandings.
