Tuesday 15th May

This was quite possibly the worst 24 hours I have had in China! I had showered (the towels still hadn’t been replaced) and at 9.30am someone was knocking rather loudly and insistently at my door. I opened it to find a woman who told me that I needed to leave now. I told the woman that check out wasn’t until 12pm and I wasn’t going anywhere, to which I was told that she was very busy and needed to clean my room now. I said again that check out wasn’t until 12pm and I wasn’t leaving until then. I then realised that I needed to leave for the visa office and there was a big chance that when I came back my things would be in a pile outside my room. I came out of my room and i was walking to the lift and the woman came out of another room and ran after me, “you leave now?” she asked, I told her no, I would be back in an hour and I left.

Once again the heat was unbearable as soon as I left the hostel but it was still torrential rain and high humidity. I took the ferry to Hong Kong Island and took a taxi to the visa office to collect my passport and visa. I was told that I was only getting a 14 day visa (but after speaking to admin at the school was told not to worry about this) so I left and returned to my hostel. Sure enough, the bed had been stripped and my things were in a pile on the floor. There still were no towels so I had to use my combats again after my shower and then I finished packing. I was quite annoyed with the hostel by this point and went to checkout, only to find that the door to reception was closed and locked. This was 5 minutes before checkout! I was really annoyed by this point so I just left the keys by the reception door and left. I took a taxi to the mall where I was to get the coach to the mainland only to find that i didn’t have enough money for the taxi. The taxi was 27 Hong Kong dollars and I only had 21. The valet had opened the door to the taxi and was taking my bag out and heard me say to the taxi driver that i either had 21 Hong Kong dollars or Chinese money or I needed to find an ATM. The valet asked me how much the taxi was and I told him and he spoke to the taxi driver in Chinese. This seemed to calm the taxi driver down and the valet paid for my taxi for me which was so sweet of him. I offered the valet my 21 hong kong dollars and he said “no, you will need that money” I actually wanted to hug him! Now at this point I have no make up on and my hair is scraped back and the valet said to me “where are your parents?” I have to say, I was a little bit mortified and wanted to shout “I’m 26!” but considering he had just been so nice and paid my taxi for me I told him that I was on my own. The valet then asked me where I was going and walked me through the mall and delivered me to the reception for the coaches. It was all very embarrassing but I was very grateful to him. I waited an hour for the coach and then got the coach to Shenzhen. The coach was again the no air conditioning city bus (it’s 33 degrees!), with us all crammed in like sardines with people stood in the aisle and it is a mix of the smell of wee, cigarettes and BO. It was two hours of  hell!

By this point I am having a pretty bad day where I feel that I hate being in China and cannot wait to get back to Beijing to my apartment and friends. I get to the airport and my 8pm flight to Beijing is delayed by 2 hours. Of course it is. How else would this day go other than badly? I hang around the airport until 10pm when I board the plane and get settled into my seat. Now I hate travelling and it is well known by my family that I am stressed at the airport, short tempered and generally very irritable and no fun to be around until I get to my destination. During this flight the Chinese man fell asleep and at one point his head is on my shoulder, but as I am reading my book I don’t really notice straight away. At some point I notice that the man next to me has drooled on my shoulder and I just saw red. I shoved the man with all of my might off me and shout at him “you drooled on me!!” with so much anger and attitude that the air stewardess comes over. Now this man does not speak English and has just woken up to the English woman next to him shoving him and shouting at him and he looks so bewildered and starts stuttering in Chinese to me. The stewardess asked me what was wrong, and still really angry I tell her “he drooled on me” looking at the man in utter disgust. The stewardess is now looking at me in a strange sort of well-what-can-we-do sort of way and speaks to the man in Chinese. I sort of humph and cross my arms, silently fuming and hating China even more and the man kept his distance for the rest of the flight.

We landed in Beijing and its now 2am, I queue for a taxi and finally get one and the taxi driver won’t take me to Houshayu. Now this is a common problem as a lot of taxi drivers don’t know where Houshayu is and don’t want to get lost. After arguing with him (in Chinese!) and telling the taxi driver that I know the way, I realise that I have two choices. I either get out of the taxi and risk the same argument with the next taxi driver or I can phone someone who speaks Chinese to give them directions. It’s 2am on a Tuesday night. I finally decide to ring Mr Wang, my favourite black taxi driver (who unfortunately will only drop me off at the airport, hanging around to pick me up is too risky as he would face a £2000 fine if he got caught, which is roughly a year’s wages). Mr Wang answered the phone and after much apologising from me for phoning at that time he gave the taxi driver directions and off we went. I arrive at my apartment at 2.30am and I realise that I cannot find my keys. I am rummaging about in my bag, using my phone as a torch and I am really annoyed by now, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong, has and I am close to tears. I considered phoning someone but it’s 2.30am, everyone I would consider phoning would be asleep and all have to be at work at 8am. I keep looking for my keys and have pretty much tipped my bag upside down all over the path when I finally find them, by this point its 3am! I am extremely annoyed by this point but also relieved to be in my apartment and climb into bed. Definitely the worst day in China so far.