However, since it is China, my actual day went like this; visited the train ticket office twice, went to the big train station, and ended up with Ross and Shiney (yes "Shiney", she is a Chinese instructor who speaks great English) for the day. It seems pretty clear to me that in China, you have to be willing to go with the flow because things do not seem like they will go according to "plan" very often!
Anyway, the main reason I wanted to pick up a train ticket today is because next Monday (June the 6th) is a holiday - so no classes! Since I also do not teach on Friday, this seemed like a good weekend for me to go to Beijing. However, also because it is a holiday, everything is going to be even busier than normal....which, quite frankly, is kind of hard to imagine. Regardless, this is why I thought I should try and get my train ticket early/today.
When Miranda went to Beijing, she asked Lisa (you can see Lisa's and Miranda's picture in yesterday's Blog post) to write out a note stating exactly what trains she wanted to catch, the times, from which station etc. etc. Miranda took this note to the train ticket office near the college and successfully got train tickets to Beijing, not just once, but on two separate occasions. Since this worked well for her, we simply took the same note, changed the dates, and that is what I was presenting at the exact same ticket office.
Attempt #1 - I got there just about at 8:30 (when it opened) and waited in line (see the picture below) to buy my ticket
I presented the note, and the ticket lady shook her head no? I did not understand, and so she called into the microphone to ask if anyone could translate for me. A young girl did, and told me I needed my passport to buy a ticket. Miranda had not mentioned this, but we had talked a lot and I thought maybe that she had forgot to mention it.....or that I had simply forgotten she had mentioned this.
Fair enough, I trot back to the college (about a 15 minute walk) and grab my passport.
Attempt #2 - same station, same note....but now with passport!
What......no, again???? Same deal.....on the microphone to try and find anyone who speaks English...this time no one does, and so she writes on my little note and hands it back to me. I head back to the college and try and find someone who can read it. It turns out, the note says that they can not sell tickets on the D-Train (the fast one) at the little ticket offices, instead, I need to go to the actual train station....which is out by the Great Wall location that I was at on Friday - grrrr!
Attempt #3 - success!
Luckily, I bumped into Ross (one of the other foreign teachers I met on Friday night) and it turned out that he was meeting his friend Shiney. She was going to help him mail something back home, AND help him get a train ticket to Beijing for next Wednesday (to renew his passport, which can only be done at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing). I asked if I could tag along, he said sure, and after telling Gis about my quandary, off we went!
It was about an 2 hour round trip to get out to the train station and back, but ultimately, and with significant help from Shiney.....success! (and I now have train tickets/hotel booked for this weekend)!
I was pretty sure that Miranda had not had these issues when she went to Beijing, but that seems to be kind of typical of this country.....lots of things are a big mystery? However, as I later found out, there was actually some pretty good logic behind this apparent "change of rules".
In the case of the "train ticket mystery", Ross and Shiney explained that most of the time you do not need a passport/I.D. to buy a D-train ticket.....which also means that you can buy these tickets anywhere. However, when a big holiday is coming up, the government wants to make sure the "one ticket - one person" rule is enforced. In other words, they are trying to prevent people from buying up all the seats on the popular trains, and then selling them for big bucks (i.e. to stop ticket scalping).
The rest of the year, there are usually plenty of seats on the trains, and with no threat of ticket scalping - the rules are "relaxed". In my case, the other thing issue was that the small "local" train ticket offices have trouble processing foreign passports, which ultimately means you end up at the bigger train stations to buy your tickets.
The reason I even bothered telling this story is that this type of "flexible rule" seems to be quite common in China. A rule or issue that initially seems quite strange or dumb, actually makes quite a bit of sense when you hear the "story" behind it. Further, the whole flexible, quasi-rule thing contradicts one of the stereo-types I had of China before coming over here. I expected lots of rules, hassles and police......but that could NOT be farther from the truth! Basically, it seems like everything and anything goes, and that the country operates in a state of marginally organized chaos....that is sort of governed by traditions and rules developed over the country's 5000+ years history. Yet, somehow (strangely) it all (kind of) seems to work?!
The good news is that the day turned out to be quite fun! After buying our tickets, Ross, Shiney and I headed to downtown to Qinhuangdao, grabbed a delicious lunch, and then wandered the streets/markets/alleys all afternoon.
Afterwards, I made my way back home, had a bite to eat and visit with Gis, and then went through my notes once more to get ready for 4 straight hours of classes tomorrow morning!
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