My First Day in China
From the moment I stepped out of the airplane to meeting my friend Bom at the indoor badminton court, there are 2 things I observed: speed and rudeness.
Things move so fast once you stepped into Pudong International Airport. The custom officers were efficient, though there was a long queue of foreigners waiting to get their passports stamped, the queue was moving at very fast speed.
I thought I had to wait for the luggage to come out from the conveyor belt. No. When I was cleared by the immigration and walked to the luggage collection area, my bag was already waiting for me on the conveyor belt.
Once I collected my luggage, I walked through the green lane (nothing to declare) into the arrival hall. If you know Chinese, the signs are very user friendly. I manage to find my way to the bus stop with ease. The bus fare from Pudong International Airport to Shanghai city centre is RMB19.
In less than 25 minutes, I was out of the airport. This is unimaginable in Malaysian context.
That’s the speed I was talking about.
Now to rudeness.
People in Shanghai just don’t smile (as far as the people I met so far are concerned). When I was walking out from the airport there were a few old ladies whose job was to stop people from taking the trolleys outside the airport. They did their job well but very rudely. They will shout at you if you push your trolley beyond the entrance of the airport. That was not a pleasant experience for a tourist.
The next thing is the taxi driver. Being a Malaysian, I guess I am not qualified to criticise the standard of Chinese taxi drivers, ours are not too good either. Nevertheless, I just want to share with you my experience.
My friend Bom asked me to take a taxi from bus stop to the badminton court (walking distance) to meet him. He said since the distance is short I will only be charged minimum of RMB11.00. Yes. He was right about the distance: it was just a short distance about 10 min walk, but he was wrong about the charges. I paid nothing. Why?
Because I was asked to get out of the taxi once I told the taxi driver the destination. He shouted, “just a few minutes’ walk also want to take taxi??!!” then he opened his trunk and asked me to remove my luggage and get out of the taxi. Ooh! So far so good. I started to love China already.
Don’t worry. I managed to walk to the indoor badminton court and met my friend Bom who was enjoying his game.
Now I am sitting on the spectator’s seat, typing this blog using my laptop.
China, nice to meet you! We still have lots of time to know each other.
Things move so fast once you stepped into Pudong International Airport. The custom officers were efficient, though there was a long queue of foreigners waiting to get their passports stamped, the queue was moving at very fast speed.
I thought I had to wait for the luggage to come out from the conveyor belt. No. When I was cleared by the immigration and walked to the luggage collection area, my bag was already waiting for me on the conveyor belt.
Once I collected my luggage, I walked through the green lane (nothing to declare) into the arrival hall. If you know Chinese, the signs are very user friendly. I manage to find my way to the bus stop with ease. The bus fare from Pudong International Airport to Shanghai city centre is RMB19.
In less than 25 minutes, I was out of the airport. This is unimaginable in Malaysian context.
That’s the speed I was talking about.
Now to rudeness.
People in Shanghai just don’t smile (as far as the people I met so far are concerned). When I was walking out from the airport there were a few old ladies whose job was to stop people from taking the trolleys outside the airport. They did their job well but very rudely. They will shout at you if you push your trolley beyond the entrance of the airport. That was not a pleasant experience for a tourist.
The next thing is the taxi driver. Being a Malaysian, I guess I am not qualified to criticise the standard of Chinese taxi drivers, ours are not too good either. Nevertheless, I just want to share with you my experience.
My friend Bom asked me to take a taxi from bus stop to the badminton court (walking distance) to meet him. He said since the distance is short I will only be charged minimum of RMB11.00. Yes. He was right about the distance: it was just a short distance about 10 min walk, but he was wrong about the charges. I paid nothing. Why?
Because I was asked to get out of the taxi once I told the taxi driver the destination. He shouted, “just a few minutes’ walk also want to take taxi??!!” then he opened his trunk and asked me to remove my luggage and get out of the taxi. Ooh! So far so good. I started to love China already.
Don’t worry. I managed to walk to the indoor badminton court and met my friend Bom who was enjoying his game.
Now I am sitting on the spectator’s seat, typing this blog using my laptop.
China, nice to meet you! We still have lots of time to know each other.
Labels: Daily Experience
posted by harnniann at
6:41 pm
8 Comments:
Wa-lau-eh! China's taxi drivers are so rude. At least M'ian 1 are more frendly. All the best to you over there. Take Care!
Great to hear from u over there!
So used to having u in klang and suddently "poooft", u are in China!
Good luck! Do keep us update !
Wah! There's more of China you need to explore. Enjoy your time there and do keep us updated about your days at China.
Jia Thiam
well, i remembered when i asked the taxi driver to send me from subang commuter to SS15, and he said " saya tak tau tempat itu".. then i tried to explain, all he got to say was " saya tak tau".
at least, is better than " get out, " rite...
Is good to know that you are fine over there...
Try to enjoy your journey.. We all here are waiting for you to tell us more about China...
Hi Toh,
You may think its strange but this situation happens a lot in Msia where nothing surprises me. Cases like this if you still wan to use taxi service pls consider paying them twice or higher then you will get your ass there on time ^^
Harley
Culture shock? Good or bad, it's still valueble experience!
Good luck!!
Timmy
Toh,
When I was is Zhuhai, I experienced Taxi drivers rejecting to fetch me to my hotel from the customs as well because the distance was too near. Nevetheless, 1 very entrepreneul cab driver agreed to fetch us for RMB20, which we willingly paid, though the actual fare was half of that :)
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