The Adventures of Tai'an

On Thursday 24 April 08 we are advised that for the May Holiday on the 01 May 08 we will have leave from 26 April 08 to 04 May 08. Barbara and I had planned we would go to Qingdao for the break. We had been to the train station to try and find out when the trains left, how much they cost and how long it took. This proved all too difficult. When we knew the holiday time we took Cathy, Chinese Teacher, to the train station that afternoon. Here we were with our tickets to Qingdao. We were like two excited school kids.

Saturday our train left Taishan station at 2.14 pm. We thought we should leave the campus by 1.30 at the latest so we could negotiate our way at the train station. We got to the train station, found out our platform and waited for the train. This proved a very easy task. We boarded the fast train to Sifang. We were unsure what to expect on the train and were pleasantly surprised. The fast train is modern, clean, non-smoking and very roomy!

We arrived at Sifang at about 5.30 pm. We hadn't booked any accommodation as we were told that there were plenty of touts at the train station who we could bargain with for a hotel room. There was only one tout. He showed us a brochure of this beautiful looking hotel. It had a palatial entrance with a large staircase, traditional Chinese dining room, large clean rooms. He started at Y160. I negotiated Y100 (ie $16)

Proud of our little achievement we waited to be taken to the hotel in the minibus. There were 3 Chinese waiting. Barbara thought this was promising. I had no real thoughts as I have been in plenty of transfers with multiple stops. The Chinese start to smoke and talk in Chinese in the minibus. I know they are talking about us because I understand Audalia (Australia). I open the window to try and get some fresh air.

We arrive at a hotel. It looks OK the Chinese get out and we are told to wait in the van. They had locked us in the van and closed my window that I had opened to try and get some fresh air from the smoking. They were gone for ages. Barbara starts to panic. I tell her they looked the doors. She was a little overwhelmed and started to try to unlock the doors. As she was trying to get over the seat to the front seat they come back. Barbara asks them, "Where are you taking us we just want to go to our hotel." The female rings somebody and puts Barbara on the phone. Its her son and he wants to practice English. Barbara tells him to tell them to take us to our hotel. He asks for her cell phone and she tells him she doesn't have one.

We eventually arrive at our hotel. It looks nothing like the brochure. It is dirty and dingy. We pay for a night and decide that we will find something the next day.