Day P1: Long Day of Travel

January 19, 2024

It was going to be a marathon travel day that's for sure, and the biking hadn't even started yet. This season is always a bit of a cliffhanger for leaving China because the weather is very unpredictable. It can be extreme wind, rain, cold, or snow even and that's all combined with massive crowds. You're not just going to saddle up on the bike and ride off to kickstart a winter vacation that easily. But then the challenge to leave is what makes it an adventure of its own.

Before all that happened, I finished the last fitness class of the season with my wife and then we celebrated at a Japanese restaurant across the street.

Waking up the next day, first order of business was to put away the new Montague in storage and pack up the old one for the trip. The folding bag was managed well and the bike fit nicely inside. This time, for some reason, it wasn't as hard to lug around as the previous trip.

Still, it was stressful trying to do this with the constant hubbub of activity in our compound. When those workers mill around and sweep, take out garbage, etc.. it gives me PTSD from the fucking lockdown. Those same staff were all there in mid-2022 and doing the exact same repetitive activities they were doing even now. They are triggers for that trauma.

With that in mind, it is going to take some planning to find professionals to help with all this, whether it be this trip or next. This really fucking sucks, that's for sure. But it's not just me. There are over 25 milion people faced wtih this unresolved trauma. There has been no apology from the government, nor will there ever be -- the politician who ordered the lockdown got a promotion to the Politburo. But the entire city is left with the collateral damage of all this. Nobody feels safe for the simple reason that the politicians could easily do something like this again. There is no trust, there is no accountability to the public, there is no resourse to stop them, so why wouldn't they repeat this?

We simply said to those workers "We're going out" and we had the luggage to prove it. Now if only that could have been done before March 2022

The folding bike barely fit into the taxi but it did. Then it was a relatively smooth ride to the railway station where my wife saw me off and we enjoyed some snacks and coffee with ample time to spare.

Thankfully it's still weeks before the peak rush. We got lucky with the timing this year.

Exactly 4 years ago this time I recall doing a similar trip but in the mass rush of the Chinese New Year. That was, of course, when covid was in the beginning stages and how it all started spreading. This time it was different, or so we hoped.

The train left and I managed to successfully lug the bike and panniers on and find a nice spot to put them.

The plan all along was to take the train to Hangzhou and then another taxi to the airport from there. For half the price of a flight ticket to Hong Kong, it was worth the effort. The train ride was relaxing as it sped through the mist and the lack of rain was going to help out big time.

The train arrived in Hangzhou in no time and then it was into the thick of the station. Thankfully I noticed at the last minute that my phone was in the seat pocket and was able to grab it in time before leaving. I have developed multiple habits of checking, double checking, and triple checking during every transition to make sure I don't lose stuff in stressful situations. Ever since these habits started and I treat this like a code red, the success rate has been 100% and I aim to keep it that way.

The last time I was here was in summer 2021 when it took longer to exit the station than the train ride. At the time it was a convoluted mess to figure out where to go in order to take a mandatory covid test. This time it was a lot easier to get out.

The irony is not lost. A world internet conference in a country without access to world internet.

There were no signs to figure out where to find a taxi and nobody to ask. I then found a sign for an airport bus and figured that was as good a bet as any. But when I got there, the guy said the service was canceled and I could take the subway instead. With all my luggage that would be quite difficult. Unfortunately the taxi was all the way down the other side and tucked off in a corner, which meant I had to go through security again to re-enter the train station. That was quite annoying.

Eventually I found the taxi and put the folding bike in, then chatted to the driver as he drove to the airport in a relaxing and chill manner. Things were starting to look up. He dropped of off outside the terminal and gave me a thumbs up.

Made it to Xiaoshan airport. All told, a good pre-journey, it was around 3 hours which is pretty good considering how far it is.

The airport was brand new. I recall it being under construction during the pandemic (mid 2021) so this was now the finished product. It was practically deserted which made for one of the easiest check-in experiences of my life. It was Cathay Pacific and the staff were all very professional. They wheeled the bike away on a trolley and I didn't have to do anything, not even deflate the tires because the cargo hold is pressurized after all.

With all this time to spare it was well worth bypassing McDonald's and scoping out some delicious Chinese food.

I didn't want to linger too long as the last time I did that it caused me to miss a flight. So it was then a short wait through security and immigration and then booking a hotel in Hong Kong while waiting for the flight to board.

I got pretty lucky as that flight I was boarding had a terrible punctuality record but it was on time today. Before boarding I made sure to scope out some cheap rum in the duty free. The flight itself was uneventful which is the best kind. Unfortunately upon landing in Hong Kong it was slam packed and took over an hour to clear immigration. The good news, however, was the bike was ready and waiting at oversized pickup.

Trying to figure out what to do next, I got some cash from the ATM and then asked the airport express train staff how to get close to my hotel. They said, much to my surprise, "We suggest taking the bus" and explained which one.

Their suggestion was a good one because heavy luggage on multiple train transfers would suck. Instead, only one bus got me within 150 meters of the hotel. Thanks to the wifi on the bus I could figure out which stop to get off at in advance. This was very helpful since the bus was extremely crowded with mainland tourists and they kept on blocking the doors. Because of that, they almost shut the door on me while getting out but thankfully the driver noticed in time and I got out. Even during this stressful mess, the habits paid off and I made sure that I had all my stuff and was keeping an eye on the luggage the entire bus ride.

I knew exactly where to find the hotel and the elevator guy was super friendly, he just said to roll the folded bike onto the empty elevator (is that even a thing in Hong Kong!?) and head on up.

The next test was about to begin. The door was locked and nobody answered the doorbell. Some guests came out and told me I had to call a number. But how was I to do that without international call access? Enter a second phone with a SIM card from Canada that was working. I called the number and he didn't speak English. So I then spoke Mandarin. He told me a passcode and I got the door opened. Then all my stuff got lugged into a hotel room that was smaller than anything I had ever seen. It still cost $100 US

After that exhausting day of travel I didn't have much energy left, just enough to walk around and scope out the neighborhood a bit before grabbing some snacks and falling asleep.

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