Home » China » China 2001 - Part Four: Urumqi & Turpan

After breakfast I asked at the travel desk about getting a car and driver to Turpan, a nearby town that had a few mosques I wanted to visit.

China 2001 - Part Four: Urumqi & Turpan

Dougburnett
2003-11-24 10:12:13

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I decided to do a little more shopping and headed off to a carpet shop I had read about. In the taxi I realized how extremely unhappy I was about having to wait around Beijing so long. I got out my map, showed the driver the World Trade Center (yes, that's what it called)- that was where the Northwest Airline offices were. The office wasn't as crowded as I expected, but I still had to wait nearly a half an hour to see an agent.

I explained my situation and finished by saying, "This is no good. I have to get home sooner." "Certainly," the agent agreed and added, "I'll put you on the wait list for Sunday." I was just getting ready to say, "Sorry, I need something better that that," when she said, "Oh, there are two seats on Sunday's flight, someone must have canceled."

I could hardly believe my luck. I walked out with a reservation for Sunday, the second day the planes were flying again. In the taxi back to my hotel I kept saying to myself, "I'm going home, I'm going home."

Beijing, Saturday, September 15

Having nothing better to do I visited the Panjiayuan flea market again. Then I headed over to Liulichang Street and talked to a few of the vendors that had been so kind to me when I arrived back in Beijing.

Back at the hotel I called Northwest just to make sure my reservation was still ok. They suggested I arrive at the airport 4 hours early - that seemed a little excessive. I spent the evening drinking beer and talking to other travelers.

Beijing, Sunday, September 16

The line was long at the airport - it took two full hours to get through the formalities. From the departure area we boarded quickly, but there was an understandable tension in the air.

Before I tell you one last story I need to give you a detail you may not know about Chinese toddlers: they often don’t wear diapers. Instead they wear pants with a slit in them - when they go, it goes too.

Anyway, I was sitting on the plane, waiting for everybody to settle down when I heard the stewardess. She was talking to a Chinese man a few rows ahead of me. "Sir," she said, "You must put a diaper on your child. We can't allow bodily waste in the aisles." I couldn't hear what he said, but it was clear he was arguing because she replied, "Sir, this could be considered a breach of security and you may be asked to leave the plane. Do you understand this?"

I thought, "Oh please, let me go home." I could just see it: stuck in Beijing because some Chinese kid shit in the aisle of the plane.

In the end the dispute was settled and we landed in Detroit 13 hours later. As much as I love to go, I love to come home more - especially this time.

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