Wednesday, November 14, 2012

My China Trip part 5

Fuzhou Changle International Airport was empty on the way back to Hong Kong. Maybe because it was 7 o’clock in the morning. It was very different from Hong Kong Airport, where there are people in every corner day and night. Fuzhou Airport looked abandoned.

There were no other passengers when I went through security. The guards didn’t say a word to me. They just scanned my bag and waved me onward. There was no line to check in. I gave the clerk my passport and ticket, she did her thing and sent me on my way. She never said anything to me and I only said “ni hao” to her. There was another security check without any lines where they scanned my bag again, looked at my passport and boarding pass again and pointed me in the right direction. Once again, no one said anything to me. It took maybe ten minutes to get from the front door to the boarding gate, and most of that time was walking around to get from one checkpoint without any lines to another.

You could never do that in Hong Kong. Even if they didn’t talk to you, which they always do, it is always crowded. Fuzhou was deserted, except for all the people working there. They had a full staff, but I was the only passenger in sight, at least in the beginning. After a while, more and more people showed up and by the time my flight took off, it was crowded. I guess I just got there too early.

Next time I’ll know I don’t need to be there two hours before the flight. Even one hour is early. But I’m sure if I got there just before they started boarding, it would have taken a lot longer to get through security and passport control. That’s the way it works.

Another bad thing about getting there early was that there is absolutely nothing to do at Fuzhou Airport. When you get past the final security check, you can sit and wait for your flight or get some terrible airport food. It’s funny how China has so much great fresh food that costs practically nothing and Chinese airports have terrible microwaved food that’s very expensive. There’s always food anywhere in China. They even fed us on the plane, and it was only a 90 minute flight.

Hong Kong Airport is a giant shopping mall. There’s a hotel, a few pay lounges and places to get a massage. You can shop, sleep, go online and eat. The food is more expensive because it’s an airport, but they have a wide variety. You can get Chinese American, Chinese Italian, Chinese Japanese and, of course, plain old Chinese. There’s even a Disney store near the food court. I could get a discount there, but I’ve never actually bought anything because I can just get stuff at work.

I already miss Ryan, but I’m glad to be back in Hong Kong. Fuzhou just seems so different. It’s kind of funny since they’re both in China, but Hong Kong is in a world of its own. I’ve still got a few months left on my Chinese visa, but I can only go back one more time. I want to go back next week, but I should probably spread it out more.

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