Jetsetter
I'm in Shenzhen now, my third of five cities in four days. I flew from Urumqi to Beijing two days ago, and I discovered that it's possible to walk to the airport in Urumqi. I found a city bus that would take me the two hours to the airport for only $0.14, but I guess it decided that a mile away from the airport is close enough. But seriously, if you're going to go all that way, why not go the last mile? It's like running a marathon and giving up after 26 miles because you don't want to run the extra 0.2 miles. So, after realizing that I was not yet at the airport, I assessed my options: pay a cab, thereby defeating the purpose of the bus, or walk. Nearly everyone decided to talk, so I joined them. Unfortunately, my digestive system has not been operating as efficiently as I would like as of late (read: every four days, on average), and right as I started the walk, my stomach started making that grumbling noise that indicates you better find a bathroom fast, so I run-walked the last quarter of a mile.
Originally, I was to have three meetings in Beijing, but two of them canceled after I had made my flight. One of the cancellations I would probably get to see later in Hangzhou, though, so really I was only going to miss one of the meetings. Well, by the time I got to Beijing, the third person had canceled, and the professor I was supposed to meet in Hangzhou had mysteriously come back to Beijing, but was now too busy to meet. SO, basically, I paid a lot of money to fly to Beijing for nothing. The air was horrible, and that, or the four hours I spent at the pearl market, gave me a nauseating headache by the end of the day that was only cured by bootleg Will and Grace DVDS at a friend's apartment. The air quality is certainly no better than it was last year, so a lot of work is yet to be done in order to get the city ready for serious athletic competitions.
Beijing:
The Water Cube, aka Olympic Aquatic Center:
The Bird's Nest, aka Olympic Stadium:
Housing for all of the migrant workers used to build the new structures:
Right now I'm in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong; I have a meeting in an hour, and I'm trying to make sure another one in Hong Kong doesn't fall through, since I refuse to come back a third time. Tomorrow I hope to fly from Shenzhen to Hangzhou, where the last of my meetings will take place (if all goes as planned, though my flight seems to have been changed, so let's just go ahead and throw that possibility out the window, too).
Originally, I was to have three meetings in Beijing, but two of them canceled after I had made my flight. One of the cancellations I would probably get to see later in Hangzhou, though, so really I was only going to miss one of the meetings. Well, by the time I got to Beijing, the third person had canceled, and the professor I was supposed to meet in Hangzhou had mysteriously come back to Beijing, but was now too busy to meet. SO, basically, I paid a lot of money to fly to Beijing for nothing. The air was horrible, and that, or the four hours I spent at the pearl market, gave me a nauseating headache by the end of the day that was only cured by bootleg Will and Grace DVDS at a friend's apartment. The air quality is certainly no better than it was last year, so a lot of work is yet to be done in order to get the city ready for serious athletic competitions.
Beijing:
The Water Cube, aka Olympic Aquatic Center:
The Bird's Nest, aka Olympic Stadium:
Housing for all of the migrant workers used to build the new structures:
Right now I'm in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong; I have a meeting in an hour, and I'm trying to make sure another one in Hong Kong doesn't fall through, since I refuse to come back a third time. Tomorrow I hope to fly from Shenzhen to Hangzhou, where the last of my meetings will take place (if all goes as planned, though my flight seems to have been changed, so let's just go ahead and throw that possibility out the window, too).
posted by Mysteries of The Orient at 10:42 PM
2 Comments:
yumberry
On my recent visit to China, I was utterly convinced I had dysentery or cholera, or eboli, or maybe a combination. This happened several times. Finally, I learned that the Chinese have some developed some industrial strength medications for the problem you describe.
As for the cancelled meetings-- it's very annoying, but it happens to all of us, and heck it's China.
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