China means business

I came into China today, which was an adventure. (I've done it once before, but that was through the passage at Hong Kong, not at Shanghai PuDong Airport).

First off, China makes all entrants fill out a health form. Last time I did this, it was for SARS, but this time there were all sorts of other boxes to check. For instance, it asked if I had AIDS or was HIV-positive. It asked if I had mental psychosis (would I know to check yes?). You then pass a little checkpoint where you hand it to a guard, he looks to see if anything is checked, and if not the paper gets filed (not sure if the file is round or not).

Next, foreigners are greeted by large signs in the immigration area-- they call it the "frontier checkpoint"-- that explain what is happening. The message is clear: the first duty is the enforce the rules and maintain social order and control. The second duty is to do it nicely. (This is true everywhere of course; it's just very explicit in China). For instance, the first bullet point said, "The frontier guard will strictly enforce the rules and warmly address the passengers."

Then I looked up and saw a large sign that read, "This side for International and Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan arrivals." Note the subtlety (or not-so-subtlety): Taiwan is not international.

It turns out my plane came in right after one from Dubai, so there was quite a motley assortment of people in line. Some Europeans, some Africans, many Arabs. Two Middle Eastern men had a problem with their visas, holding up the line for a while as the guards closed in to ask them questions. Eventually, they were led off to an office; I have no idea if they were going to be allowed in or not. This made me a little nervous, but my visa seemed to be acceptble.

After battling my way through the bag pickup and the currency exchange (you can't get Chinese currency outside of China, so everyone has to change when they get there), I needed a cab. A driver turned up at my elbow and asked if I needed a cab. I said no-- the ones who solicit you right in the terminal will charge you an outrageous price. Better to go to the official taxicab stand, where you have a chance of not being cheated.

I had my hotel name printed out in Chinese characters so I could just show it to the driver. Always do this in China and Taiwan; the drivers don't speak English no matter how carefully you enunciate. In the cab, there was a long list of "cab procedures" that the driver is supposed to follow, and a number to call if you think you have been cheated. Sounds like they're trying to clean up the problems. It reminds me of how Chiang Kai Shek Airport in Taipei used to be crawling with dishonest drivers when I first went there a few years ago, but now it's quite orderly and the hucksters aren't allowed inside.

Not much traffic on Saturday, so we got there quickly, and it's so cheap! Just $15 for a 35-minute ride.

This is a 5-star hotel, which means it has Internet in the rooms and a shopping area on the first floor, as well as Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and "International" restaurants. And a health club! Best of all, there's a little 7-11-type store right next door where I can buy bottled water. The hotel water is NOT drinkable except in the Executive Suites (they say this explicitly). And although they give you a bit of bottled water in your room, it's not enough for me. I already went and bought a large bottle-- at about 60 cents a liter, it's not like it's too expensive.

The Internet connection is called "broadband," but it's not terribly broad. It also costs about 40 cents a minute. Time to get offline!