October 23 - Goodbye Shenzhen, Hello Qingdao

So, I paid 200 RMB ($31USD) to the fake taxi driver to get from the airport to the hotel in Shenzhen, but only 63 cents (4 RMB) to get back to the airport from the hotel.  What a difference a little knowledge makes.  To be fair to myself (remember, this is "fair and balanced" FOX News reporting where I get to control the story) -- I couldn't have gotten from the airport on public transportation at 1:00am in the morning -- so taxi was my only option.  But I'll be smarter next time, book an earlier flight or just take a marked taxi.

Anyway, to get back to the airport I caught the metro for one stop (2 RMB) and transferred to a shuttle (another 2 RMB).  It's way more challenging for a white American because even at the shuttle transfer point it wasn't clear that the bus was the shuttle and there were lots of folks yelling "taxi?" But the bus driver seemed to understand my puzzled look and waived his hand it an upward motion, like a plane taking off, and nodded his head affirmatively, and when I boarded I could tell it was full of passengers with luggage (something I couldn't see from the outside).

I felt like a little kid in Disneyland when I walked into the airport.  Remember I had only seen arrivals and very little of that.  This airport is beautiful.  Here are a few photos

Unfortunately, the photos don't give you a true feeling of how massive the airport is nor the high-end shopping experience that is contained.  Signage was dual language and it was easy to get my boarding pass.  Getting thru security was, as always, stressful.  Security personnel didn't know English and just like we do when someone doesn't understand us, we just repeat the same words louder.  Turns out they were looking for my small tubular back up phone charger in my bag.  After examining it, I was on my way.

As soon as I cleared security and for the first time in 17 days, I succumbed to my hunger for comfort food (I hadn't eaten any breakfast and it was noon).  Almost involuntarily, my feet led me to the counter where I ordered the Whooper meal!  As always, it didn't look as good as the photo -- and in this case tasted dry -- not at all like what my mouth had been watering for. 

But a little sustainence and I was soon the only white person on a full plane of Chinese headed to Qingdao (population: twice the size of Los Angeles).  For the first hour I just rested and slept, but when the meal was served I decided to ask my seatmate what a couple of sealed pouches contained -- they were marked only with Chinese characters.  The friendly response encouraged me to ask more questions, and soon I was learning about this 40-something General Manager of a Chemical Related Tech Company -- who offered me his contact information should I need help traveling in China.

A comfortable 3 hour flight and I was being greeted by my Chinese friend Andy.  I tell the back story of how I met Andy here and I stayed with him during my prior trip to Shanghai in 2013. My friendship with Andy has included being with him in Wenzhou during his first meeting with his hoped-to-be future father-in-law, traveling and sightseeing with him in China, and he was with me when I learned of my Dad's death. All covered in the linked blog from 2013.

Tonight Andy led me by taxi -- first to meet up with his cousin over a delicious meal:

and then to his apartment where we spent the evening catching up and discussing plans for the weekend when he is taking me to his home village -- including a 6 hour train ride plus car travel.  He tells me that I will be the first white person to ever have visited his village.  It's going to be a very interesting weekend.