tanithryudo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tanithryudo) wrote2024-04-03 08:03 pm
tanithryudo) wrote2024-04-03 08:03 pm
China Trip Day 1(-ish)
Technically 2 days counting timezone changes, but we'll call it day 1.
Departure went smoothly. About an hour by BART to get to SFO. The self check in for UA didn't work for me on the 1st. So checked in at the US counter, and that also went smoothly. I am guessing it's because they also need to check the VISA, and there's no upload VISA option in the normal workflow for online check-in.
We got to the airport early, so waited about 3 hrs at the gate for boarding. The flight wasn't full, no one had the seats next to my window seat, so I got the whole row to myself. None of the onboard movies appealed, and I ended up watching a few episodes of Our Planet 3 nature documentary. Napped a bit here and there in between.
After reaching PVG, managed to meet up with my mom (who flew in from Vietnam) at the baggage claim exit area. The next problem is that they didn't buy the train tickets to Nanjing beforehand, claiming there's usually plenty available, but we hit the 清明 holiday rush, plus apparently some trains were canceled due to a Taiwan earthquake earlier in the day...Yeah, so no tickets available today or tomorrow, all sold out.
No bus service was available to Nanjing either. Buying another flight would cost 1k+ per person. So… ended up taking a web car. Cost should come out to 1.5k for the entire ride (about 3x cost by train for 3). And also dealing with rush our traffic (departed at about 5pm).
Ah well. Aren't I glad now I had the foresight of buying the train ticket to Chengdu ahead of time.
Edit： Car departed PVG at 5pm, it's now 11 and we're on the outskirts of Nanjing. Waiting in line for charging stations before getting off the freeway. Apparently this state of traffic is normal (for holiday periods?)…
The driver mentioned he has a colleague who took a similar customer. They took another route and are still stuck at 常州. I guess we were lucky to get a driver who was experienced enough to take the longer route on paper but end up being faster due to less overall traffic.
Departure went smoothly. About an hour by BART to get to SFO. The self check in for UA didn't work for me on the 1st. So checked in at the US counter, and that also went smoothly. I am guessing it's because they also need to check the VISA, and there's no upload VISA option in the normal workflow for online check-in.
We got to the airport early, so waited about 3 hrs at the gate for boarding. The flight wasn't full, no one had the seats next to my window seat, so I got the whole row to myself. None of the onboard movies appealed, and I ended up watching a few episodes of Our Planet 3 nature documentary. Napped a bit here and there in between.
After reaching PVG, managed to meet up with my mom (who flew in from Vietnam) at the baggage claim exit area. The next problem is that they didn't buy the train tickets to Nanjing beforehand, claiming there's usually plenty available, but we hit the 清明 holiday rush, plus apparently some trains were canceled due to a Taiwan earthquake earlier in the day...Yeah, so no tickets available today or tomorrow, all sold out.
No bus service was available to Nanjing either. Buying another flight would cost 1k+ per person. So… ended up taking a web car. Cost should come out to 1.5k for the entire ride (about 3x cost by train for 3). And also dealing with rush our traffic (departed at about 5pm).
Ah well. Aren't I glad now I had the foresight of buying the train ticket to Chengdu ahead of time.
Edit： Car departed PVG at 5pm, it's now 11 and we're on the outskirts of Nanjing. Waiting in line for charging stations before getting off the freeway. Apparently this state of traffic is normal (for holiday periods?)…
The driver mentioned he has a colleague who took a similar customer. They took another route and are still stuck at 常州. I guess we were lucky to get a driver who was experienced enough to take the longer route on paper but end up being faster due to less overall traffic.
no subject
Welcome to the motherland! 🤣
Yes, traffic is normal for the holidays. Holy shit, did not register you guys are arriving on Qing Ming. Oof. Yeah, um...very smart of you to get the tickets early.
Oh right, I should probably let you know when I'm arriving so we can coordinate... Will contact you on wechat.