Monday, December 27, 2010 En route China to Philippines

Got into Beijing at 10:30pm.  The transfer from the Peoples' Republic of China to the Philippines couldn't go less smoothly.  Ok, so first I fly Air China SF to Shanghai (layover in Beijing), then I fly Cebu Pacific Shanghai to Manila.  Simple enough (and total it was only $1200).  However, this was the most complicated flight I've ever taken.  Here's why.  I get to Beijing, China, and of course I'm in the international terminal, good.  But, because I'm transferring to Shanghai, I have to leave the international terminal and instead go to the domestic connections.  This means actually immigrating to the Peoples' Republic of China, standing in line and all (which took 45 minutes despite their very orderly changing of the shifts of uniformed immigration officers.  And because it's the Peoples' Republic of China, everyone except North Koreans, Cubans, and Swiss people need a fucking pre-arranged visa to enter.  Of course I didn't have one and I wasn't going to pay for one so I could stay in the country for under 6 hours.  Well, as usual, I was the last one in the customs line (the janitor was like mopping the floors), and finally they gave me a transit visa (luckily I printed out my Cebu Pacific itinerary, but unluckily it was a Word text-only document).  The immigration inspectors were so efficient they forgot about me until I went back up to their desk, and they were like "Uh, so why are you still here?"  "Um, I have no idea...?  You have my passport though."  "Oh, what did the other guy say was the reason?"  "I have no idea."  "Oh, ok, you may pass."  So efficient.  Anyways, re-went through security and then was the last one to board the Beijing to Shanghai flight.  The plane was enormous, I was surprised because it is only a 2-hour flight.  But it's also a country of 1.3 billion people and is probably the most common route in that country.  Once I got to Shanghai, I had to go through China exit customs (which took 45 minutes; how hard is it to screen people LEAVING the country?) and then check into Cebu Pacific, which was half Filipinos and [oddly] half Russians.  The flight was alright, it's a bare bones budget airline and I slept the whole time.