Travel

By whether or not you get ice cream.

Thanks, China Eastern!

Aka, smoking lounge in Shanghai airport. At least they are quarantining them from the rest of us.

Going through security in Shanghai, my bag was flagged by the X-Ray operator. He said that I had a pair of scissors in my bag. I said that no, I didn’t think so, and invited the security people to look.

After a few minutes of searching my bag, they discovered a small credit card-sized tool that has a tiny scissors tool on it. Very sternly, they told me that such a dangerous weapon was not allowed on airplanes by the Chinese aviation authorities.

They asked if I was returning, and if I wanted a receipt so that I could pick it up when I return. Without thinking, I said yes, and they led me to another counter where they filled out a receipt and gave it to me.

I forgot that on my return flight, I will not be flying through Shanghai, so I will not be able to retrieve my “very dangerous weapon.” Maybe they can put it to good use, possibly for training exercises on how to disarm hijackers.

At the airport, on my way to Hong Kong for the holiday weekend, the airline check-in counter had multiple lines. An airline employee called out that the different lines were for domestic and international passengers.

This posed a problem for me. Is Hong Kong an international or domestic destination? Before Hong Kong was returned to Chinese control in 1997, it was a British colony for over 100 years. When it was British colony, of course, Hong Kong would have been an international destination for passengers from China. In addition, after Hong Kong was returned to China, China made it a special autonomous region. As a point of national sovereignty, Hong Kong is undoubtedly part of China.

But is Hong Kong a part of China for airline travel purposes?

Not able to get an answer from the airline employee, I shouted out to the counter clerk: “Is Hong Kong an international or domestic destination?”

Usually, airports are very noisy and chaotic places. However, as soon as I shouted out that question, it suddenly became as quiet as a church. The airline employees behind the counter froze in place. The people in line with me fell silent. Nobody said a word. It’s as if they were afraid of the question.

Honestly, it was really not a political question, I just wanted to know which line I was supposed to be in.

After several seconds of awkward silence, someone, a passenger, not an airline employee, called out: “domestic.”

As soon as he said that, it was like somebody released the “pause” button on life, and activity around me resumed.

So today I learned that in China, even getting on an airplane involves navigating through political minefields.

Sheesh.

Unavailable in the States, but available via Amazon in China (although it costs $6.77) . Explanation, please!

 

It’s a vegetable in Chinese cuisine, it comes from the sea, and it has to get from the sea to the table, but does it really have to be shipped in the open air in the back of a freight truck? Really?

Don’t travel on a Chinese holiday.

This is the train station in Dalian 大連 on Dragon Boat Festival 端午節. All three trains back to Shenyang were delayed. This is what the train station looked like.

The train was almost two hours late.

The city of Dalian (大连/大連), about two hours south of Shenyang, is a port city with a rich and troubled history. It has a wonderful port that made it the target of the colonial ambitions of Russia and Japan in the last history.

There are some nice old buildings that were built by the Russians, and are still in use today.

Who doesn’t love trains?