HELLO world! I am writing from the capital of China...BEIJING!
Day 6 was spent trying to find last-minute tickets to come here, and it was my first taste of complete frustration with Chinese policies and regulations. As someone who is obviously on a strict budget, I searched several websites before deciding on the cheapest and most convenient flight from Shanghai to Beijing. These searches were not easy though, because 1. the websites were all in chinese, 2. these websites were all in simplified characters, and 3. i can read chinse, but it's still not the easiest of tasks and takes some time. So after HOURS of searching, I finally decided to hit the "purchase" button and long story short, and FIVE websites later, I wasn't able to buy the ticket. Apparently in China you have to use a CHINESE credit card or bank card to purchase flights online from any and all Chinese travel agencies.
Can you say...MOST FRUSTRATING THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD?!?!?!!
I felt so frustrated and defeated, especially as I saw the prices rise from $200, to $235, to $280 and eventually to over $300 in the course of a few hours. By 6pm, I had officially given up and I had settled on the idea that I would be staying in Shanghai over the long weekend.
But then, I received a sudden boost of support and encouragement from my parents, and my boy, and they helped me realize than an extra $100 is nothing in the grand scheme of things. So, I found a more westernized website and booked there. BUT, I still wasn't able to use my card and was forced to take a long cab ride to their office location to pay my ticket in cash. OH. THE. JOYS.
But the good news is....I MADE IT! Phewwww! More later. I'm exhausted.
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