There’s an apparent requirement for companies in China to have a big off-site meeting at least once a year. Employees expect this to happen and the event is usually pretty jam-packed. Microsoft China is no exception to this cultural event and so begins my first big company meeting, in Wuhan! 

Wuhan (武汉市) is the capital of Hubei Province in Central China. The city is known as the Chicago of China as it is a major transportation hub for not only roads but also rails. And by rail is how I got here.

Taking the high-speed rail in China is pretty easy and economical. Sites like ctrip.com cater to the English speaking crowd but charge a lovely  premium for their services. As a foreigner, if you purchase a train ticket online, you still need to go to the train station to pick up your train ticket allowing someone to validate your passport/ID.  It’s kind of annoying but there’s no way around it. Fortunately for this trip work provided the ticket so I was able to skip that part.

About three hours into the five hour, 1000km journey it was lunch time. A lady came around taking orders, but I have no idea what I was getting as one of my coworkers ordered for me. Part of me wishes I knew what the options were as this is what was served:

Needless to say I’ll never complain about airline food again! And lesson learned: Plan ahead for long train rides and bring some food with you.

I’m now enjoying a bit of  relaxing Sunday as it’s beer o’clock. Next up: dinner, poker game, and bed as tomorrow is a long day of meetings.

For over three weeks now I’ve been MIA , and for good reason); I was hiding in the good ole USA! After spending that amount of time back home, I noticed a few things:

1. Unrestricted internet is definitely missed
2. Friends and family definitely define where your heart is
3. I miss eating  Chinese food daily
4. A little bit of me was anxious to get back to my apartment in Suzhou
5. Flying economy across the Pacific is painful

Part of my role at work will require me to fly back to the USA a number of times a year so it’ll be interesting to see how this list changes over time. 

By now I should be fast asleep in a drunken stupor about a flight bound for SFO. Should being the operative word. United Airlines flight 858, the penultimate 747-400 for that airline leaving Shanghai Pudong Airport suffered a mechanical problem which caused it to be cancelled and that’s the focus of this blog post.

No, I’m not going to write how terrible the airline is or how annoyed I am about the cancelled flight, mainly because I am neither annoyed nor thinking United is terrible. They take care of me and for that I’m grateful!

Currently I have Premier Platinum status on United, which means I flew 75K miles and spent $9K dollars on the airline last year. It’s not the highest of status, but it comes with some good perks. One of my favorite, and least used perks, is the ability to call the airline and speak with a representative rather quickly when needed. Today was just one of those times.

After flight #858 was cancelled we were told to deboard (is that a word?), go back through immigration, collect our checked bags, then visit the ticket counter to figure out what’s next. The line to be processed by immigration was long and slow going so … I booted up my USA phone (cellphone carrier is Google Fi) and called United to see if I could get on one of the later flights. After about 10 minutes not only was I rebooked to Seattle I was even confirmed in a business class seat even though my original ticket was in economy!

(OK, a little explanation on my ticket: it was an economy ticket that could be upgraded to business if space was available and I had an upgrade certificate. There was no space left for people upgrading but there were business class seats available. (?!?!) Seeing as I previously did have an upgraded ticket and a biz class seat, the agent changed my ticket to a biz class fare and assigned me seat 1D. Trust me, I’m not complaining!)

Next up was getting my bags off the carousel at the Shanghai-Pudong airport. United places special tags on the bags of their frequent flyer and those bags should be the first ones off the plane. Today that worked in my favor as mine was the fifth bag to come off the conveyor belt. Score!

Seeing as I now have my bag that needs to be rechecked, I went up to departures to see the ticketing agents. There was a line for business class and a terribly long one for economy. Uggh. Both lines got MUCH larger after I queued up as all those other passengers whose bags did not come off the belt first were now joining it and there was another flight where passengers needed to get checked-in. Score!

It took about 30 minutes to get through the line and see an agent to check my bag and get my new boarding passes (mobile boarding passes don’t seem to exist in China for airlines or trains). With that out of the way it was time to head back to the Air China lounge for another round of bland food and less than delicious drinks after getting a second exit stamp in my passport from the same country in the same day. (How often does that happen?!)

To put into bullet points everything that happened today:

• Delayed and then cancelled flight
• Rebooked on a flight 8 hours later
• Confirmed business class seat on rebooked flight
• Checked luggage was the fifth one off the plane
• Short-ish line (but still time consuming) to get my boarding pass and recheck my bag
• Second helping of amazing Chinese cuisine at the Air China lounge, free of charge

Right now, however, the flight to LAX is delayed by a couple hours but fortunately not due to mechanical issues; the inbound aircraft is delayed. At some point LATE tonight (what day is it?!) I’ll make it to Seattle via LAX & SFO. Yes, it’s time for a tour of the west coast. Sadly I won’t be able to see the volcanoes on the way north past SF as it’ll be too dark outside.

Back in the air today, flying PVG-SFO-SEA. As I woke up late due to being jet lagged, I did not have time to grab a bite to eat before leaving for the airport. Sadly this meant I barely had the strength to use my large suitcase as a cattle prod when crossing the Shanghai Metro Line 2 Platform of Death. (Read post from Day 119 if you’re confused…)

Getting to the airport was pretty easy and there were not too many people in lines. I had to wait maybe 20 minutes to go through immigration control and there was no waiting at the final baggage check & metal detector for those lucky enough to use the mysterious line 27 (business, first class, and “VIP”). (“VIP” will be the premise for another post some day…)

Having an hour to spare, I made my way to the Air China lounge near gate 71. This lounge is pretty terrible, to be honest, in terms of quality but it does try really hard. There’s a number of shower stall for those in need, lots of seating, and a hot & cold food buffet. Sounds pretty good, right? Well … 

When you walk into the lounge the overwhelming smell of stale smoke reminiscent of a Reno casino wafts so hard it’s as if someone slapped you across the face. And it only gets better.

In the traditional Chinese way, the bartender is extremely slow and will only pour half a glass of wine at a time. But don’t worry, I found where there’s a self serve location upstairs in the lounge; more on that later. Don’t even try to order a mixed drink as you’ll be highly upset with the wait time and the quality of what is mixed. The spirits are the brand names you’re used to, but … just don’t taste right.

The downstairs portion of the lounge has lots of seating, which is great. There’s even cold refrigerators with water, soft drinks (Pepsi & Schweppes if it matters), and beer. Grab one of those items, you’ll be happier in the longrun. It’ll also help dampen your sense of smell so you don’t notice the stale smoke scent when trying to relax.

Upstairs is where the food, more seating, and the showers are located. It’s also the location that gets busier quicker, likely because the stale smoke scent doesn’t permeate this region. 

Find a spot, drop off your bags, and head over to the buffet for some uninspiring quisine. While I do like most food and don’t expect much from what airlines offer … What Air China puts on their buffet is just… Tasteless. Except for one item, that is. I’ve tried most the food items on offer and have to say the ‘old duck soup’ is rather tasty, but remember not to eat the meat unless you enjoy crunching on small bones.
Typically the food buffet comprises a number of options:

• Hot options: rice, yangzhou fried rice, Singapore noodles, two soup, two mixed veggies offerings, and one or two meat-based dishes.
• Cold options: sushi rolls, cold cuts
• Salad options: cut fruit, salad with toppings, mixed salads like fruit or potato
• Desserts

While plentiful, none of the food is tasty and makes me wonder what the offerings aboard an Air China flight would be like. Also, check out those short shorts; honey was working it!

One thing I will say about the wine that’s offered, and you know I’m a bit of a wine snob, could barely pass as consumable. Yes, it’s that bad. Prior to today’s flight I ordered from the bartender on the first floor and learned to ask for 两杯红酒, or two glasses of red wine as they never pour a full glass. It was always just “ok” but not really good and I never saw the labels. Well, today I discovered the self pour section upstairs in the lounge and realized why. Friends and co-workers have spoken about Chinese wines and how they’re just terrible, in general. As it turns out, the swill they serve in the lounge is branded as Air China and The Great Wall, with the latter brand being some seriously cheap wine that might hospitalize a person if they are not careful. It’s just that bad.

Currently my flight is suffering from a mechanical delay, something about the parking break and it not being able to function (aka, release) has us sitting at the gate for over an hour.  We may depart at some point today if a spare part can be found, fingers crossed, but in the mean time I’m enjoying a lovely Australian Malbec that the flight attendants keep refilling. Mmmm so much better than what was served in the Air China lounge!

On a whirlwind tour of the Pacific Ocean, I found myself in the Shanghai Pudong Airport once again. This time I’m spending the night in Shanghai before flying away tomorrow morning and decided to take the subway (Metro Line 2) from the airport to try it out instead of hiring a driver. 

In T2, the International Terminal, there’s plenty of signage pointing jet lagged and weary passengers in the right direction. Before entering the subway I had to find a ticket machine to buy a one-way pass as I don’t have a Shanghai metro card yet. To my relief I had a small bank note, otherwise I’d be out of luck as the machines take coins and bank notes no larger than 10元 (~$1.35). 

With my ticket in hand I proceeded to pass the metro security guards — and I’m still unsure what their purpose is as I walked though the non-functioning metal detector with lots of metal on me and not even a blink from the guards — and down to the subway platform. So far so good! The train arrived, I boarded, and even managed to get a seat which is a rarity in Shanghai as the metro is always jammed packed.

And that’s when things changed. I got on the right train headed in the right direction. For some unknown and purely Chinese reason, the line stops 1/4 the way towards the end and you need to get out, cross a platform, and board the exact same metro line to continue. If the announcement was said in my car, I completely missed it and was taken a bit back when the train started moving in the wrong direction! Perhaps all the passengers exiting with their suitcases should’ve been a clue?

Backtracking one stop and getting on the next train in the other direction added about 20 mins to my trip. Not too bad, but definitely not happy times. When the end of the line was reached I exited with the rest of the pack in something that can only be described as a herd of wildebeests crossing a crocodile laden river during their biannual migration. Yes, it was that crazy, full of people pushing and shoving, tossing baggage everywhere to hop in the train car that was 5 meters (15 feet) away! The subway station must record this event and put it up on the Chinese equivalent of YouTube as it’s that amazing. 

Tomorrow when I head back to the airport I’ll take the subway once again, this time fully knowing about the transfer and hopefully able to do it correctly!

My last post was written in the backseat of a VW Passat on the way to the Shanghai Pudong airport. As you likely read, the front tire blew and it needed to be changed. No worries, I always plan for extra time but seriously am considering my next trip (Christmastime) to the airport will be via the subway-maglev-subway option; it might be crowded, I might not get a seat, and it might take 3.5 hours … but man, sitting in a car for that long to get to the airport just really is not ideal!

Tonight, waiting on my first of two connections, I’m back at one of my old haunts: The Amex Centurion Lounge at SFO. This place is absolutely fantastic … unless you’re here during one of the more busy periods of the day and then it’s so crowded there’s even a line to get in. To gain access into this airport oasis you need to have a very specific type of Amex charge card in your possession: The Platinum card or the Centurion card. I can’t talk much about the Centurion card as I will likely never make enough money in my life to afford even the initiation fee. The Platinum card comes with a pretty steep annual feel — $550 per year, if I remember correctly — but you get a lot of perks with it: Access to the Centurion Lounges in airports, Priority Pass lounges in other airports, $200 to use while onboard an airplane, $25 or $35 per month in Uber credits, discounts with online shopping retailers, 2-for-1 business class airline tickets with certain airlines, and even rental car insurance when you rent a vehicle. That last one is really important to me as I’ve not owned a car for *many* years now and, as such, have not paid for car insurance. Yup, I definitely get my money’s worth for that annual fee!

What I like most about the Amex lounges comes to the surface on a night like this. Slowly I’m making my way from Suzhou China to Roanoke Virginia, two places on earth that could literally not be more of a world apart. I’ve got some downtime at the SFO airport and here I am sipping some pretty good chardonnay, am able to get a delicious hot meal for free, and could even hop in the shower if I wanted to. It makes flying 8700+ miles in economy class almost tolerable. But who am I kidding, economy class is just not humane after you’ve had a trip or twelve “up front”.

This trip, as usual, is on United Airlines and I was able to snag a seat on a 787-800 flying the long leg across the Pacific. If I have to fly in economy, this is definitely the plane I like to be in. You don’t feel nearly as terrible upon landing due to the lower air pressurized cabin and the increased humidity. The seats are wider than on the new retrofitted 777-200 and brand new 777-300 — neither of which do my shoulders fit making me hunch forward for the entire trip. There’s power plugs available for your devices and seat-back entertainment. Pretty nice for cattle class 🙂  But you’re still “jammed” packed and, unless you’re able to have an empty seat next to you, it’s difficult to catch some shuteye or just relax.

Now it’s time to head to my connecting flight, let’s hope it’s on time as I’m officially ON MY WAY TO SEE THE HOKIES PLAY!

GOBBLE GOBBLE

I BELIEVE.

Tonight I’m off to the USA! Had my Admin Assistant at work book a driver for me as I didn’t want to transfer twice and be on the train for 4 hours tonight. The ride was smooth for the first hour with little to no traffic. Once we got to the far west side of Shanghai, bam! The front passenger tire blew. 

Yup, busted flat in Hongqiao. 

My poor driver. He seemed to be having a rough day to begin with and this just didn’t help at all. 

He got out of the car to inspect what happened then proceeded to change the tire. I helped out by holding the flashlight (how butch!) while he did the work. It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve changed a tire, but you do it once and you’re a pro. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to jack the car up before you start to undo the lugnuts, right? Oh boy, this should be fun!

The driver remembered, fortunately, that the terrible sound of lugnuts being stripped clean was not a good sound and proceeded to jack the car up. Amazement came when the lugnuts were much easier to loosen. 

I don’t know if there’s an equivalent to AAA in China, but two service workers did stop by with their flatbed trucks to see if we are ok. That’s nice of them! Probably they were hoping for a wreck to tow and get money since they left pretty quickly after finding things under some semblance of control. 

The flat tire was eventually replaced with a full-sized spare *phew!* and we got back on the move after a 25 minute delay. And just one km down the road, traffic, moderate in volume but still annoying. Hopefully it won’t delay things too much.

Moral of this adventure in China holds for any place you are: When traveling for work or pleasure, leave yourself plenty of time to get to your destination as your stress levels will remain low if things go a south.

UPDATE: For those of you worrying at home, I made it to the airport in time and am currently waiting in the immigration line to leave the country for a spell.

Whenever you’re in a different location than where you were reared you begin to notice small differences in what people do or say. For example, in some places it’s customary to hold open a door for someone before or after you go through it. In other places you say “Thank you” too acknowledge someone who did something for you, no matter how small or easy the task performed was. In other locations you’re supposed to leave a tip for good service. 

Today I noticed that no one says “God bless you” after someone sneezes here in China. And you know what, that makes sense as most Chinese seem not to subscribe to a religion. 

What I find most odd is that there’s no equivalent saying. Spanish speakers would say “¡Salúd!” (meaning roughly “to your health”) and those speaking German would say “Gesundheit!” (which I’m pretty sure is some kind of canine or sausage). Here in China there is not even an acknowledgement of the sneeze but man, there should be! When someone sneezes it sounds like there’s some sort of hidden decibel record that’s trying to be broken and I’m genuinely worried for the health of the sneezer!

Tell me what you think an appropriate phrase should be or even if I should use one here. Do keep in mind I normally was say “Salúd” or “Bless you” when around westerners, so I’m looking for something a bit more … fun! …to say.

Today, almost three full months since arriving in China, I’m making my way to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport for my first trip back to the USA. The reason for the trip is to play in the softball tournament I mentioned a while back! My teammates are almost all in Portland and I’ll be one of the last to arrive.

After years of not relying on vehicles to go from place A to place B, I find myself in a car — minivan, actually — traveling the 2+ hrs from Suzhou to the PVG airport. The trip costs 400rmb (~$50 USD) and is the easiest way of getting to the airport…except for the traffic. I hate traffic. Unpredictable, inefficient, and stressful. It’s annoying at best and never brings anything good to the table. Public transportation might be crowded, indirect, and noisy … But at least it’s predictable and relatively inexpensive.

China is known for its bad traffic, both in the country/rural areas when there’s only one highway and also in the cities where way too many cars are on the congested arteries. There are traffic jams that have lasted days. 

With the big international airport on the other side of Shanghai from Suzhou, one can hire a private driver to get there or take the subway to the maglev train to the other subway to the other maglev train to get to the airport. Oh boy, not so much fun there with the public transportation option!

Shanghai Hongqiao Airport is on the closer side of Shanghai to Suzhou and will take only an hour or so by car or subway/maglev combo making it a much more ideal airport to fly out of. Too bad there are only a handful of international flights, none of which are transpacific. (That means a connection in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tokyo, or Soul would be required before getting to the USA.)

One of these days I will attempt the trip from Suzhou to the PVG airport by train so I can better plan for trips and timing. Until then, like today, I’ll be stuck in rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Shanghai. 

Happy trails, my friends. See you in Portland or the Friendly Skies!

Granted this was at the work cafeteria today and not one of my usual restaurants, but 43rmb bought be a good sized lunch and a decent dinner. Lunch was almost completely vegetarian — it’s difficult to be sure in China as they always sneak some meat in for flavor or filler — and dinner was a delicious noodle soup with a hunk of boneless chicken, skin on. The fact the chicken was boneless was pretty amazing yet the soup was quite delicious, though a tad salty. The squash that I picked up with lunch is one of my recent favorites as it’s always cooked a bit too much so it’s on the mushy side. And for some reason the cafeteria loves to sprinkle big sugar crystals on top of sliced tomatoes instead of salt, making it even more delicious thank what I’m used to eating.

Oh yeah, 43rmb is the equivalent of $6.25 in the USA!

Also, I hope my parents are reading this in time today to wish my Nana a very happy 97th birthday! I love you Nana and hope you get to see many more birthdays in the years to come!