And on to Xi'an -- airline ordeal

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Chinese trains usually fill up early, and we were disappointed not to be able to get tickets to Xi'an from Urumqi for another great ride across the desert. But we were pleased to get airplane tickets,which, although somewhat expensive, promised us a 3-hour trip to Xi'an, instead of 36, and giving us an extra day there that we hadn't planned on. Well, things in China don't usually work out as promised, and, indeed we ended up arriving in Xi'an just about when we would have on the train, weary and haggard and with some new stories to tell.

Our first surprise was not finding our flight on the departure board at the Urumqi airport when we arrived early Wednesday afternoon. That was because although we thought we were on Hainan Airlines, a somewhat known and reputable carrier, we were actually booked on Tianjin Airlines, an uptart company, that apparently plans to be China's major domestic ailine by 2012. Our plane was an Embraer 190, a 50-passenger Brazilian jet that we later figured out was the same kind of airplane involved in a crash in NE China a few weeks ago. Anyway, we all were seated on a hot afternoon, only about 2 hours past the originally scheduled flight time, when the stewardesses announced that there was some kind of mechanical problem and we would all have to get off.

So we all marched back into the terminal and watched as various mechanics moved the tail and wing flaps numerous times. All we knew was what we could see, as there was absolutely no information available to us, even for those who speak Chinese. Meanwhile, several of the Chinese passengers (there were only 4 of us foreigners as it turned out) were becoming more and more rowdy, loudly demanding information from young airport and airline employees who knew nothing and agitating for "compensation" for being late. They engaged in vigorous conversation with Jacob about this, saying that he should tell the airline that this kind of delay would not be tolerated in the US and they kept asking him what was the usual compensation for this kind of insult in our country. The fact that the delay was for the purpose of enhancing our safety did not seem to occur to these people.

At any rate, the airline determined that our original plane was not going to make the flight, gave us the first of several pretty bad airplane-type meals, and, many hours later, nearly 10 PM, finally announced that there was another airplane we could board to take us to Xi'an. We dutifully got on line, but the Chinese pasenger ringleaders, who by this time had much of the rest of the group pretty riled up, loudly said that no one was boarding until adequate compensation was assured. The three of us, plus a young student named Sasha from Kazakhstan, and two others, who turned out to be airpline employees on a free ticket, were the only ones to board the big bus to the remote part of the field where they had our plane.

For over an hour the six of us were the only ones on the airplane,where we had friendly conversation with the very young flight atendants and, of course, were served another no so tasty airplane meal. Meanwhile, the rest of the passengers were back at the terminal negotiating their compensation. What they didn't know was that time was rapidly running out on the maximum number of hours the flight crew was allowed to be on duty before it was illegal for them to fly. So, after 11 PM, the rest of the passengers showed up in a bus, triumphantly waving some contract they had with the airpline. Their ringleader read some of the terms to great applause after the passengers were seated. But soon after that, instead of finally being on our way to Xi'an, the stewardess announced that the flight was cancelled for the day due to the pilots being over their allowed work time.

But for time taken for the compensation negotiation we would have finally been out of Urumi. Instead things got a bit scary as the passenger ringleader, who was in row 1 just in front of us, stood up to physically block the aisle to insist that nobody leave the airplane until they got some kind of further satisfaction that he didn't specify. Blocking an airplane aisle must be a jailable federal offense in the US. At any rate, we knew this was a situation to get away from. So we told Sasha to join us, quietly said that we would like to get off the airplane, please, and, surprisingly we were let through. On the ground someone drove us back to the terminal in a car just as the police were pulling up to deal with the situation on the airplane.

We were given hotel vouchers for the night and had visions of being pampered in the large luxury hotel we saw at the airport. Instead, we were driven to a seedy hotel in a remote corner of Urumqi, where we were told that if we wanted less than 2 people to a room, we would have to pay extra. This hotel did have private bathrooms, sort of, consisting of a toilet, sink and showerhead surrounded by translucent wall next to which two beds were crammed. Kathy roomed with Sasha and I with Jacob and we slept as well as we could for the few hours remaining before morning. Of course we had no information reagrding when we might be able to leave Urumqi or how we would get to the airport, and of course no boarding pass for a flight the next day.

While we had visions of the rowdy aisle-blockers spending the night in jail, as it turned out all our fellow passengers were in the hotel with us the next morning. We were given a mediocre hotel breakfast and soon a bus showed up to take us bak to the airport in time to catch our flight to Xi'an, rescheduled for 10:30. Of course, as soon as we arrived, we found the departure was delayed to mid-afternoon. So we, and our new Kazakh friend who speaks good English as well as some Chinese and whose native language is Russian, went to explore the modern international terminal of the Urumqi airport, mainly to get away from the oppressive waiting room and our fellow pasengers.

The international part of this airport is actually somewhat busy, although we couldn't identify most the central Asian cities flown to (well, Sasha could, but the three of us couldn't). We hung out in a coffee/tea shop for most of the day enjoying good conversation and lattes and coffee that cost about $8 a cup and were both made from instant mixes. Of course, when we returned to the main terminal for our flight, we got another bad meal. The further delays, including the announcement when we were all finally on the plane again that we would have to wait 1 1/2 hours for takeoff clearance, were anticlimactic. We did eventually have a nice flight to Xi'an, all in daylight, crossing back over the deserts in rapid fashion with incredible views of the mountains as we left the valley that Urumqi is in and then sand dunes as we crossed the wide desert. Even lining up in the Xi'an airport to receive the 500 Yuan/passenger compensation (about 25% of the original fare), handed out in cash with very little documentation required, seemed like normal procedure at this point. When our taxi drove through the Xi'an city wall after 8 PM it felt as if we were at the end of a very long journey, finally reaching the eastern end of the Silk Road.

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Photos

How many of these places an you identify?
This is the arrivals board in the international terminal o fthe Urumqi airport.

Waiting out Day 2 in the terminal with our Kazakh friend, Sasha
Those cups of instant coffee cost about $8 US each

Tianjin airlines logo on the side of our plane, a Brazilian Embraer 190
Whatever this is supposed to be, it didn't inspire confidence.