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Published: August 16th 2010
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Kowloon street at night
taken with my iphone, the night before the nightmare Jeez what a nightmare. I guess any international trip has to have at least one. So we got to the airport today (where the nightmares always happen). And we walked up to the desk to collect our tickets from Hong Kong to Beijing, then we have another flight the same day from Beijing to Nanjing. And I had asked the travel agencies, over and over and over, "do I need ANYTHING extra for travelling to Hong Kong and Macau?" "No."
ok, well you do, so be warned! When I ordered my visa I ordered a SINGLE ENTRY visa. And who would've known that the Chinese consider Hong Kong to be separate diplomatically? I guess I should've known, but the travel agencies didn't either. I tried arguing the point with the lady at the ticket counter.
"You have single entry, it's already used, see?"
"But I didn't leave China! Hong Kong is part of China, are you saying that we're not in China?"
"No, separate."
I tried to be as nice as possible but I was so pissed that this had happened after all the planning I had done. So I missed all my flights (no
My rice tea
dinner the night before and my rice tea. mmm refund), and I had to pay for a next day expedited visa. So I'm staying in Hong Kong (in the airport hotel, which is actually pretty nice, has a gym, 5 stars) for an extra night. I wouldn't mind it, but Hong Kong is sooo expensive, and I lost all the money for my other tickets, and had to buy a new one for tomorrow. I wish I could at least do some sightseeing and enjoy it but the airport is too far away from downtown Kowloon and I don't want to risk the little cash I still have. So now I'm flying straight to Shanghai tomorrow, after I pick up my passport and visa from the travel agency in the airport. So maybe, just maybe, I can still see the Expo in Shanghai, since I'm flying straight there. But jeez China, really? How you gonna play me like that?
Update:
So I got my visa, it came in 30 minutes early, which was nice. Then it was all downhill from there. They made me check my bag (which I was able to carry on when we left for Hong Kong, but now I can't?), I waited
patiently at my gate for about an hour, doing some last facebooking before I got to mainland China where it is banned. Then after getting on the plane...we sat on the runway for 4 1/2 hours before taking off. Due to "weather conditions" in Shanghai :P It was awful. At least I'm in Shanghai now in my hotel room. I need to sleep, I starved on the plane and I'm exhausted after all this stress! Jie won't get here until late tomorrow so I have a day of sightseeing by myself. One day in Shanghai, I can't decide whether to see the Expo, or go see four other sights on my list for Shanghai. I'm leaning towards the Expo since it won't be here again if I come back, but the lines will be long and I'll be alone. Help me decide! Leave a comment 😊
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Les
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Shanghai
My cousin was in Shanghai a couple months ago and said the lines at the Expo were so long (like 5 hours for every exhibit) that it wasn't worth the wait. Maybe stop by the Expo and see how long the lines are, and if they're long, go see the other sites you have on your list?