Ohhh China: Planning for the Mainland

SYDNIE REED!

What is there to say about Sydnie (‘Cindy?’ ‘No, Syd-nie, like Australia’)? Sydnie was my newest yet closest friend from Princeton by graduation. We bonded during our orchestra tour in January 2007, and from then on, we spent an inordinate amount of time together, heaving through yoga, slugging through thesis misery, and most of all, noticing hilarious things about everyday life. We laughed a lot. And while it was hard to say goodbye to most of my Princeton friends, I only cried while saying goodbye once: the night I had to say goodbye to Sydnie.

I knew I’d miss her tons, especially since she’d be working in China for a year. But on my flight home from Princeton, it dawned on me: if I’m going to spend my summer abroad, why not visit her in Shanghai? And while I’m at it, why don’t I also visit my other good friend Robby Braun in Beijing, where he’s teaching English at the Chinese Foreign Affairs University? I’ve never had any particular interest in Asia, but hey, when else will I have Chinese-speaking friends working in the Mainland?

So without giving it too much thought, I booked direct round-trip ticket from Tel Aviv to Beijing for August 16, the day my sublet expired. I spent two and a half weeks working out the details of my trip, and let me say that planning an entire trip in China alone was…difficult.

First: the visa situation. America has tightened its visa restrictions, so China is giving American’s similarly bad treatment. If you haven’t visited the mainland in the past year, they will grant you (at maximum) a two-entry visa (forget multiple-entry) and will charge you well over $100 (I paid 450 Israeli Shekels, or about $125). It’s the only time being a non-US citizen is advantageous; Israelis applying for the same visa were only charged around US$50 for a two-entry tourist visa, whereas Palestinians were charged around US$25.

My route within China was wacky, but not without reason: Robby would not be arriving in Beijing until August 23 – therefore I only felt it fair to visit Beijing on the last leg of my trip – and I wanted to visit Hong Kong during the workweek so Sydnie would have a little breathing space and so I could avoid visiting tourist hot-spots on the weekend. In the end, here’s what my travels looked like:

August 16: Fly Tel Aviv-Beijing-Shanghai
August 20: Fly Shanghai-Hong Kong
August 23: Fly Hong Kong-Shanghai
August 28: Fly Shanghai-Beijing
Sept 2: Fly Beijing-Tel Aviv

The pace was insane (but doable), but trying to schedule the flights proved even more difficult. Chinese airline websites would be down or nonexistent, or they’d only be in Chinese, or they’d be inordinately expensive. Finally Sydnie volunteered to book my ticket from Beijing to Shanghai, because she speaks Chinese, and, well, I just couldn’t figure it out. Then I asked my mom to call her travel agent in San Diego to book my flight and hotel to Hong Kong; after hours and hours of research, I threw in the towel and was desperate for help. So, my advice? For anyone traveling to China, find a travel agent within China, or another agent directly connected to China. It will make your life so much easier. Furthermore, there are tons of highly discounted flights (and hotel rates, for that matter) offered within China, advertised all over newspapers and such; a Chinese agent will be able to get you these deals, saving you tons of money.

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When the time arrived to leave for China, I was kind of confused. China? ??? I mean, really? The feeling didn’t go away, even as I boarded the flight. I took my seat and promptly texted Erez:

‘I’m going to China. What the hell am I doing?’

Two minutes passed. Text again.

‘A cute guy just sat next to me. Everything will be ok.’

And that’s how I met my fiancée.