A show for the ages
The other day I went to an Opera in Beijing and it was alright ... lots of acrobatics and pretend martial arts ... but that was NOTHING compared to the show I got last night.
I was running late for a train ... I left my hostel with 50 minutes left to catch my train to Taiyuan from Qingdao; the train station was about 1hr away on the bus and in addition to everything, it was high traffic everywhere!
I managed to catch a taxi, the driver gave me some ridiculously high prices by local standards of $6 ... I didn't bargain with him too much as I was in a hurry. He started driving; I quickly looked up in my phrasebook how to say "please hurry" and told him ... he asked me to show him my train ticket ... and I did. After that, the road show began! This driver was breaking one rule after another ... honking the horn non stop; this is how you know in China if a driver is doing a good job as they like to honk a lot. He was swerving, cutting cars left and right and quite frequently going on the apposing lane on big streets to pass cars!!! ... I was at the edge of my seat the entire time and cheering him on silently :) At times, I thought "oh my god there are no seat belts in this thing :)", I was sitting in the back". It was some amazing display, he managed to cut a bunch of other taxi cabs, now that's something you don't see too often. In the end we arrived in 30 minutes! ... he was sooo proud of himself, as was I :) ... he demanded that I pay him $7 instead of $6 and I obliged. I was rushed on the train and didn't have time to buy any food ... I was worried that I'll be hungry for the rest of the night.
On the train, I met a very nice Chinese couple from Taiyuan, who out of their good will gave me food and lots of advice on where I should travel in Shanxi province. We ate shrimp, crabs and spicy veggies together with bread; it was great! ... the took great care of me and my phrasebook once again was a big hit! Don't leave your home without one! After we got off the train, they showed me the way to the bus I was to take ... I was so happy that things worked out so well. Especially since for me, these interactions are priceless!
I was running late for a train ... I left my hostel with 50 minutes left to catch my train to Taiyuan from Qingdao; the train station was about 1hr away on the bus and in addition to everything, it was high traffic everywhere!
I managed to catch a taxi, the driver gave me some ridiculously high prices by local standards of $6 ... I didn't bargain with him too much as I was in a hurry. He started driving; I quickly looked up in my phrasebook how to say "please hurry" and told him ... he asked me to show him my train ticket ... and I did. After that, the road show began! This driver was breaking one rule after another ... honking the horn non stop; this is how you know in China if a driver is doing a good job as they like to honk a lot. He was swerving, cutting cars left and right and quite frequently going on the apposing lane on big streets to pass cars!!! ... I was at the edge of my seat the entire time and cheering him on silently :) At times, I thought "oh my god there are no seat belts in this thing :)", I was sitting in the back". It was some amazing display, he managed to cut a bunch of other taxi cabs, now that's something you don't see too often. In the end we arrived in 30 minutes! ... he was sooo proud of himself, as was I :) ... he demanded that I pay him $7 instead of $6 and I obliged. I was rushed on the train and didn't have time to buy any food ... I was worried that I'll be hungry for the rest of the night.
On the train, I met a very nice Chinese couple from Taiyuan, who out of their good will gave me food and lots of advice on where I should travel in Shanxi province. We ate shrimp, crabs and spicy veggies together with bread; it was great! ... the took great care of me and my phrasebook once again was a big hit! Don't leave your home without one! After we got off the train, they showed me the way to the bus I was to take ... I was so happy that things worked out so well. Especially since for me, these interactions are priceless!
posted by Alex Pilchin at 6:41 AM
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