Day 13: Travel Day

Day 13 – Fri. Jan. 10: Pretty much a dead day. Got up late, checked out of the hotel at noon, and went straight to the airport. Unfortunately, our 2:30 plane had mechanical problems and didn’t board until 5:30. I wished the battery in my laptop weren't dead so that I could have at least gotten some work done. Didn’t make it to the hotel in Beijing until after 10:00 pm. Basically 10 hours of wasted time from the hotel in Shanghai to the hotel in Beijing. Went to bed a bit disgruntled.

Although I still don’t speak any Chinese, I’m starting to notice differences in the languages and speaking habits. My ear is beginning to pick up on when someone is speaking in a different dialect or with an accent. For example, I often hear two people pronouncing the same word in different ways in a conversation, or notice when people seem confused when conversing. When I ask about this, I’m often told that it’s a regional language issue. Sometimes one Chinese person will even say about another, “She didn’t understand what I was saying,” or vice versa. I also noticed that people in the south (Shanghai, Hangzhou, etc.) speak much faster and louder than people in the north (Beijing). People in the south often sound angry, like they’re having an argument. It’s a bit disconcerting at first and takes a little getting used to.

Another observation is that the car horn is a very important means of communication in China. This seems universally true – north, south, urban, or rural setting. Also, lines marking car lanes seem more like suggestions that are readily ignored if inconvenient. A taxi ride is almost always an adventure. On one trip, while traveling through the countryside, I wondered why the driver kept speeding up and then slowing down. I finally noticed that there were cameras and radar detectors posted along the road at regular intervals. Apparently, Big Brother is always watching.

On the same theme, I always got patted down and wanded at the airports. However, I enjoyed the fact that I never had to take my shoes off or remove every miniscule item from my pockets and body. Security at many tourist spots also require putting backpacks and bags through an X-ray machine. Interesting.