Nothing much of a day
I was still grateful for the good sleep now that I’m away from altitude. I woke at 0840 without an alarm. It was dark outside due to cloudy weather and being in an internal courtyard of my Langzghong guesthouse. I took things easy and chilled in my room before checking out at 1145 to grab a lunch of dumplings. It was a little drizzly. Thereafter, I was back to the guesthouse to collect my stuff and head to the bus station by taxi.
The 2pm bus ride to Chengdu was quick and I thought we’d make it in less time than the outbound journey. But I was wrong. It took 4.5h due to being in an hour of slow traffic within Chengdu. Disembarking at Beimen station, I used the loo. Surprisingly, for a big modern city, they still have doorless toilets. I will always remember my Mum telling me in 1998, before my first trip, to bring an umbrella to make up for the doorless toilets.
I taxied to the airport. Pulling out from the bus station area, there was a man on a bicycle with a fridge mounted on the back! Long-sides hanging on either side of the back wheel. He must have a good sense of balance! After clearing the traffic, we had the toll road nearly to ourselves all the way to the airport, arriving there at 1930.
Check-in
AirAsia X’s counter didn’t open till 2130 which is 2.5h prior to departure (instead of their usual 3h). Silkair’s opens only 1.5h prior to the flight. Quite strange. Dinner choices here were limited so I grabbed KFC and sat in a quiet area before joining the queue around 30 minutes before the counter opened.
Strangely I was given a boarding pass that was different from the seat I had been assigned during online checkin. I didn’t bring it up as it was a better seat. I guess because I hadn’t paid to make a selection, they can do what they like.
Eagle-eyed security
Boarding the aircraft, I was told that my luggage had been held back because x-ray staff saw a powerbank inside. They had hauled it to the handluggage security checkpoint.
I was led there to try identify the offending item. After several passes through the X-ray, it turned out to be two tiny GoPro batteries that they were looking for. Having done many flights with these batteries, it was the first time any security staff had noticed them! They must be eagle-eyed here!
They weren’t sure if my bag would make it into the cargo hold in time and asked that I take out my knife from the luggage too.
The security guy took my knife and accompanied me to the gate. Knowing that the luggage can go into the hold still, he gave it back to put into the bag. Otherwise, if my large bag had to be carried in the cabin, he would have confiscated it.
Overall, the day went according to plan. With a midnight departure from Chengdu, I didn’t want to be bored without shelter for 12h after check-out. Going to Langzhong in the days before and spending the afternoon on the bus was a wise move.
Parting Thoughts on China this time
Impressions of China this trip, which is probably my eight visit starting in 1998:
- Development is at breakneck pace.
- Pollution is really bad.
Volume of domestic tourists means many popular sites are overtouristed. - Most things are no longer cheap, especially in larger cities; taxis are still good value.
- Generally shopping isn’t good anymore. If you manage to get to the right places for quality copy stuff, well done! Otherwise, local brands are being sold at inflated prices. International brands are being sold here at prices even higher than overeas. No wonder the malls in HK and Japan are full of mainland Chinese.
- Western Sichuan gave me a more positive and contemporary Tibetan vibe than Tibet proper.