The plane journey from Beijing to Urumqi is quite an eye-opener as to the manners of the Chinese. They refuse to get up for anyone so whenever people need to get out of their seats they are FORCED to climb over their neighbours, which I think everyone will agree creates a lot more trouble than just getting up in the first place. They, of course, have no qualms about hawking up and spitting onto the floor, but then the Han seem to have no qualms about spitting anywhere, actually. I am more accustomed to this than I used to be but sometimes you get to hear a particularly revolting noise or see someone both blow their nose and spit at the same time, and then it is a bit of a battle to keep the bile down. And I’m not actually especially squeamish about this, I don’t think. It amuses me somewhat when (as I keep getting ill) the Chinese tell me to wear more clothes and then I’ll be okay. No matter what clothes I wear, I might not pick up so many germs if you didn’t keep spitting them practically onto my shoes. Thanks. The Chinese spitting phenomenon explains the rapid-fire spread of SARS in their country. Spitting is actually banned in most cities now because of SARS, especially those on the east coast (I don’t think it is banned here in Urumqi) but that doesn’t stop anyone. Liam and I were treated to a sight of a man actually using a NO SPITTING sign to work up more leverage for his spit. They also have a tendency to put their cigarettes out on NO SMOKING signs, or lean on NO PHOTOGRAPHS signs to get a better camera angle on their shot. You have to almost admire their audacity and complete lack of respect for rules. So, on the flight, no surprise to be surrounded by spitting men (women also enjoy a good spit, but there were few women on the flight). Most of the men were quite tubby, sweaty businessmen. China, my friends, is a country devoid of deodorant. I truly had to search long and hard to find any; the only place I can find any is roll-on at the Adidas stall of our local Westernised department store. So you can imagine that really the flight wasn’t that pleasant. However we do particularly enjoy that all the air stewards on Chinese flights bow to you before and after the flight.
Naturally the Chinese look upon fasten seatbelt signs with complete indifference, so as we began our descent they all got up to deal with their hand luggage. The attendants were helpless in the face of the stampede. Obviously Liam and I managed to get off the flight, with our hand luggage intact, and arrive at the baggage carousel at the same time as everyone else without having to step on everyone’s toes to do so.
When we get our baggage we realise how ill-prepared we are for arrival into Urumqi. The airport is in the north of the city, so we figure we probably have to go south, but we have no actual idea where. We were informed by our Chinese tutor, Joanne Smith Finlay, that we weren’t allowed to move into our university accommodation until the 31st, (though registration ran from 21st-31st) and we arrived on the 30th. We later found out that this was absolute bull, but we have no idea whether it was the Urumqi end or the Newcastle end that mis-informed us. This actually happened several times during our registration process and at first we got really annoyed with the Newcastle staff because they hadn’t help us to prepare for all this (more on our attempts to register later). However, since dealing with Xinjiang Normal University for a few months now, and seeing their idea of organisation, I am inclined to believe that it was they who messed up.
So there we were at the airport with nowhere to go. We had a few rough ideas about hotels/hostels but only knew their English names, which was no help to us in this city. We weren’t in the east of China any more! In Beijing, and even more so in Shanghai (I’m told) there is English everywhere and most people will speak a little. But in Urumqi, you’re on your own, kid.
We go outside and peruse a poster map of the city, but we can’t even locate our university on it, let alone any hostels. Taxi drivers left right and centre were attempting to get us in their taxis, but we knew that taxis from airports are almost always a rip-off so we wanted to do this by ourselves. A man wearing eyeliner came up to us to help. The men here, as in a lot of hot sunny places such as Central Asia and Africa, wear eyeliner in summer as it prevents the sun’s glare. He gave us smaller hand-held maps but we still can’t find anywhere. Turns out he is, of course, a taxi driver. By this point, there were no other taxis left and no way out of the airport via public transport as far as we could see. We took his taxi, and he charged us 100¥ to take us to a hotel. This is like £6.60, but a massive overcharge in China. But seeing no other option, and being tired and fed up, we let him cart us around the city in search of a hotel. He found us one which was clearly over-priced, and so he said he’d take us to a good one. He clearly had a deal with the hotel he eventually took us to, because he stayed in the hotel lobby for ages, and we saw him in there the next morning as well. They charged us more than their advertised price for the room, and we think he got a cut.
The hotel experience was, unfortunately, enough to put us off Urumqi for quite some time. The staff were extremely rude and unhelpful. Like all Chinese service professionals, they were greatly confused by our visa. Because we were on a student X class visa, our length of entry read 000 days. Most tourists or other visitors are only allowed in for a certain number of days so of course that is printed on their visa. But as students staying for an extended period of time, we have to get our visa changed to an official residence permit 30 days or less after arrival in China, so there is no day limit to our visa. As the Chinese have to keep tabs on our every move, the staff had to log our details correctly and so these hotel receptionists didn’t quite know what to do. Though we tried our level best to explain, they didn’t even try to understand and basically laughed at our Chinese. When we got annoyed they giggled even more and were even rude enough to talk and laugh about us behind some paper. We would’ve walked out then and there if we had a place to go! We didn’t like it, so we just lumped it.
The hotel was not especially a good hotel, sort of a Chinese Travelodge, and like I said we paid extra for it (we paid 320 instead of the advertised 288) However it was nice to have a comfortable bed for the night in preparation for our new lives beginning the next day. However on the day we missed the ease of Beijing and the nice staff at the Templeside Hostel. I took my first photos out of the window of our room, and Urumqi looks like a cosmopolitan, vibrant city. Whilst taking these photos I had a bit of a China-moment and got momentarily excited about the place, but I was in such a bad mood it didn't last long. We even went to KFC (which I never go to in the UK) so we could have a bit of the West to comfort us. We met the best person in the entire city, whose name is Clever Girl. She had the sense to give us a pointy menu and the decency to not laugh at us. Other than her, not the best start to our time in Urumqi.
Naturally the Chinese look upon fasten seatbelt signs with complete indifference, so as we began our descent they all got up to deal with their hand luggage. The attendants were helpless in the face of the stampede. Obviously Liam and I managed to get off the flight, with our hand luggage intact, and arrive at the baggage carousel at the same time as everyone else without having to step on everyone’s toes to do so.
When we get our baggage we realise how ill-prepared we are for arrival into Urumqi. The airport is in the north of the city, so we figure we probably have to go south, but we have no actual idea where. We were informed by our Chinese tutor, Joanne Smith Finlay, that we weren’t allowed to move into our university accommodation until the 31st, (though registration ran from 21st-31st) and we arrived on the 30th. We later found out that this was absolute bull, but we have no idea whether it was the Urumqi end or the Newcastle end that mis-informed us. This actually happened several times during our registration process and at first we got really annoyed with the Newcastle staff because they hadn’t help us to prepare for all this (more on our attempts to register later). However, since dealing with Xinjiang Normal University for a few months now, and seeing their idea of organisation, I am inclined to believe that it was they who messed up.
So there we were at the airport with nowhere to go. We had a few rough ideas about hotels/hostels but only knew their English names, which was no help to us in this city. We weren’t in the east of China any more! In Beijing, and even more so in Shanghai (I’m told) there is English everywhere and most people will speak a little. But in Urumqi, you’re on your own, kid.
We go outside and peruse a poster map of the city, but we can’t even locate our university on it, let alone any hostels. Taxi drivers left right and centre were attempting to get us in their taxis, but we knew that taxis from airports are almost always a rip-off so we wanted to do this by ourselves. A man wearing eyeliner came up to us to help. The men here, as in a lot of hot sunny places such as Central Asia and Africa, wear eyeliner in summer as it prevents the sun’s glare. He gave us smaller hand-held maps but we still can’t find anywhere. Turns out he is, of course, a taxi driver. By this point, there were no other taxis left and no way out of the airport via public transport as far as we could see. We took his taxi, and he charged us 100¥ to take us to a hotel. This is like £6.60, but a massive overcharge in China. But seeing no other option, and being tired and fed up, we let him cart us around the city in search of a hotel. He found us one which was clearly over-priced, and so he said he’d take us to a good one. He clearly had a deal with the hotel he eventually took us to, because he stayed in the hotel lobby for ages, and we saw him in there the next morning as well. They charged us more than their advertised price for the room, and we think he got a cut.
The hotel experience was, unfortunately, enough to put us off Urumqi for quite some time. The staff were extremely rude and unhelpful. Like all Chinese service professionals, they were greatly confused by our visa. Because we were on a student X class visa, our length of entry read 000 days. Most tourists or other visitors are only allowed in for a certain number of days so of course that is printed on their visa. But as students staying for an extended period of time, we have to get our visa changed to an official residence permit 30 days or less after arrival in China, so there is no day limit to our visa. As the Chinese have to keep tabs on our every move, the staff had to log our details correctly and so these hotel receptionists didn’t quite know what to do. Though we tried our level best to explain, they didn’t even try to understand and basically laughed at our Chinese. When we got annoyed they giggled even more and were even rude enough to talk and laugh about us behind some paper. We would’ve walked out then and there if we had a place to go! We didn’t like it, so we just lumped it.
The hotel was not especially a good hotel, sort of a Chinese Travelodge, and like I said we paid extra for it (we paid 320 instead of the advertised 288) However it was nice to have a comfortable bed for the night in preparation for our new lives beginning the next day. However on the day we missed the ease of Beijing and the nice staff at the Templeside Hostel. I took my first photos out of the window of our room, and Urumqi looks like a cosmopolitan, vibrant city. Whilst taking these photos I had a bit of a China-moment and got momentarily excited about the place, but I was in such a bad mood it didn't last long. We even went to KFC (which I never go to in the UK) so we could have a bit of the West to comfort us. We met the best person in the entire city, whose name is Clever Girl. She had the sense to give us a pointy menu and the decency to not laugh at us. Other than her, not the best start to our time in Urumqi.
First view of Urumqi:
1 comment:
Me again. Now I understand the rubbish start to your time there, spitting and lack of deodorant sounds no fun. Still can't believe you're there... Hope you are not currently diseased, miss you lots as always xxx
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