It’s been a while that I have not written a blog post. It’s hard to find things to write about when life is a routine and one is on the hedonic treadmill. But last week I was forced to make some urgent travel plans to Beijing to get some documents from Indian Embassy in Beijing(EOI). This blog is about that trip and the adventure I had on what was supposed to be quick and boring journey.
Last Monday, I was told by my employer to get some documents which are needed for work permit in China. Unfortunately, when I started working in China these attestations were not needed and I had to book a flight next day to Beijing to get them from EOI. I booked the hotel, got my N95 masks, some snacks, wet tissues to sanitise and my travel kit ready. It was during this time there were some cases of Covid-19 were discovered in China. News reported that Dalian also had one reported case. To be on the safer side, I asked a friend to call the airline and airport and check if they need a covid 19 test certificate to travel. Both Dalian and Beijing airport and my airlines said as of that time there was no need for that. So I took the flight on Tuesday unaware of the challenges that I was about to face. I landed in Beijing and zipped through the exit gates and took a taxi. Taxi drive to hotel was probably an indication to the things to come. He took me to the wrong hotel which was from the same chain of hotels and in same area but around a kilometre away from where I had booked the room. I decided I needed the walk anyways after sitting for an hour in flight and 20 mins in the taxi. I walked at a fast pace and was at my hotel in about 10 mins. I gave them my ID and booking number. They asked me to register in a Beijing health tracking app too. Until now everything was good and I was about to check in. Then they asked me to show me my health code. This health code is a tracking app which one can show via the super app WeChat. It tracks your location based on your cell number and evaluates if you have been to an area where there have been any covid cases. My code was green but there was a little note at the bottom which said this person has been in medium to high risk Zone in Dalian and not necessarily means that had any contact with covid patients. So the hotel staff tells me that for anyone arriving from Dalian they can’t give a room. If I need a room, I should do a covid test. I was shocked, angry and frustrated that despite doing all the due diligence and talking to authorities I am in a situation which I don’t like. I asked some Chinese friends to talk to hotel staff and convince them to give me a room but after hours of constant negotiations hotel staff won’t budge. They even called the police so they can take me to a place where I can live for the night. Nothing to worry here, It was really to help me as they can’t give me a room. My friends called multiple hotels and all refused to give a room. Even the hotel helpdesk called all nearby hotels and got the same answer. Finally around 1:30 am I said I have enough and decided to leave the hotel premises as neither the police arrived and neither I had a room where I can spend the night. Hotel staff told me that police told them to not to give me a room else they will pursue charges against the hotel staff.
While leaving the hotel, I was thinking what can I do. Only place I knew in Beijing that would have something open 24*7 would be the infamous Sanlitun. I have been to Sanlitun almost half a decade ago and it was a mix of shady bars, spas and some upcoming shops. I decided to try my luck and told the hotel staff to get me a taxi to Sanlitun. The taxi driver driver dropped me there. I was still hopeful and tried walking into some hotels there but they were all apologetic and declined to give me a room. Finally, it started raining and I had had enough for one night. I walked around in Sanlitun and found a bar with no patrons and decided to just sit and chat up with the bar-tender. This is a young guy, 25 years old and was singing a song on his Karaoke when I entered. I ordered few non-alcoholic drinks as I was tired and wanted to relax. I started talking to the bar-tender and explained him my situation in the broken Chinese I can speak. This guy was super friendly, so I called a Chinese friend up to help explain my situation. To my surprise he offered me to sleep in the bar and just tell me what time he needs to come back in morning to wake me up. I had an appointment at 9 a.m. So, I said he can come at 8 am. So here I am, sleeping on couch in a bar in Sanlitun. He was such a nice host that he also slept in bar for the night , so that I don’t feel trapped alone there, as he would have to lock from outside. I got up around 7:30 am and he was smoking outside. I went uptown him and told him how grateful I was. I know better to not offer money in return for his generosity! So I thanked him, took a selfie and offered to host him when he is in Dalian next time.
I thought adventure was over and after doing my work at EOI, I can take my flight later in the evening to Dalian. But, nothing is simple in China. All WeChat groups and local English news source were full of flight and train cancellation between Dalian and Beijing. I checked with airlines and they said flight is as per schedule and I asked do I need a covid test and they said not until now, but situation changes every 2 hours… There was no way I can get a covid test and get it before my return flight. I discussed the same with a very nice gentleman I met in EOI, who shall remain anonymous and suggested that I should drive to airport ASAP. He also connected with his contacts to see if I can get a covid test in 3- 4 hours but that didn’t panned out. He booked a taxi for me to an Indian restaurant, as he was aware of the rough night I had. Lunch was on him as restaurant won’t take money from me. He instructed them to send me to airport after lunch and just check in as soon as I can. I followed their advice and went to airport at 1:30 pm for a 10 pm flight. I was not the only one like that. Lot of Chinese were also sitting at the airport for flights in late evening as they were also not sure if they can board without a covid certificate or not. But this anonymous gentleman called me every hour to make sure I was ok and was there right till the point I boarded the flight. He said worst case scenario would be that I can’t board and would have to sleep in his home. Which sounded very comforting after sleeping on a couch in a bar. But fortunately, I was able to board and landed in Dalian without any issues. As far a my memory goes, I have never been happier to see my bed and was glad that I can sleep in a familiar environment.
Ohh I also called the EOI helpline that night and they told me there is nothing they can do to help me. Which was little disheartening as it’s easy for people to get detained in China for small things. I was just glad that out of all things that can go wrong, being denied a room is not the worst possible option.
What did I learnt from this experience?
World is full of nice people and most people are helpful. Over the years in my travels, I have discovered that bad things do happen to travellers but they are far outnumbered by the generosity that people show in general. It’s easy to fixate on the bad news and terrible experiences but we should rather keep an open mind and be optimistic. Just ask for help and you might be surprised by the generosity of the people.
Other thing that my friend told me while negotiating over phone with hotel staff was “don’t loose your cool”. I think that was be best advice that one can get in a tense situation. It was obvious anyone will get angry and loose their temper given a situation like this. But if you keep your head cool you can think through the situation and find a solution rather than wasting time and energy on getting angry on some random person who is just doing their job. The true testament of one’s character is how one behaves under pressure and stress.
Tough times don’t last but people do. This one is obvious and has been repeated so many times on motivational posts. But it is true that we should cultivate resilience and work our way through tough situations. Bad times will pass and we will have a story to tell!
Self discovery and Empathy: While I didn’t know where will I sleep that night and it started raining. I started thinking about all those people who are homeless. I am relatively fortunate and have enough resources that I have never been without a roof but I know back home in India there are millions who are homeless and don’t have shelter to sleep. Not just India, homelessness is problem that many countries are facing. I can’t really say that I know how homeless people feel as I flew back home to my cozy bed with Thai mattress and memory foam pillow but I have some idea on how frustrating and hard life is for millions of people like that.
Planning: You can plan as much as you want but one can’t anticipate all the scenarios. Planning is good but don’t put too much time in it and always be ready for the unexpected.
Lastly, make friends and acquaintances in the journey of life. In this overnight journey I was vulnerable and was open about it. Those who helped me , cared for me and gave me shelter on this trip are now friends with me and I am grateful to have come across them.
Overall, when I look that this trip I can just remember how helpful people were and I call these people friends now. I am also proud that I was in control of my emotions and not once yelled or lost my temper on anyone during the whole trip. This is a trip that I will probably never forget and will always be a great story to share!