Travelling in the middle of the night

---

The sweat starts trickling down my brow, my pants start falling down, while my heavy backpack starts bobbling up and down with every running step I take as we try to burst thru the airport terminal. Luckily I have sneakers on as my brother and his girlfriend are wearing sandals that they lose every four to five steps. I see a Chinese man unable to contain himself from the laughter as we whizz by.

We get to the check-in counter only to be told that we have missed our flight to Xi'an. Aghhh! So, now I have to cancel my booked ticket, buy new plane tickets and confirm the hotel reservation will still be ok in Xi'an all to be done in Mandarin Chinese.

My Chinese is pretty decent for an American maybe around a 6th grade level but I do get nervous when I have to discuss more complicated things. I recite in my mind over and over again the words that I have to say and just hope that the other person on the line doesn't speak to fast or incoherently.

We get to the counter and immediately I get handed a phone. I begin my broken adult Chinese conversation. Amazingly I do pretty well, I get us on a flight for 10pm that night, confirm that our hotel should be fine, and was even able to rebook a return hotel room in Shanghai for my brother with complimentary soft drinks and a welcome gift! I only had to use one english word "refund" that I forgot how to say.

We finally have arrived in Xi"an, it's about 2am and the City is still and quiet. Got a 7am wake-up call for the Terracotta Soldiers tomorrow. Should be fun.

---

Photos

Waiting...
Can anybody give us a ride to Xi'an?