On September 27, I barely made it to 5:00 p.m. at work because all my thoughts were on what was coming up. I spent the next almost 2 days in the sky and in airports, on my way to the other side of the earth - New Zealand. 17,000 kilometers, 36 hours, including 22 hours in the sky… Yeah baby! Jubilant was my pent-up curiosity! And so it flew…
I arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport 3 hours before my flight because I just couldn’t sit still any longer. My flight was on China Southern Airlines, flight number CZ6002. Two long lines of Chinese passengers were already formed at check-in, and I humbly joined the end of one. However, a lady from the business-class check-in desk approached me and, seeing me as a “privileged guest,” escorted me past the line. 🙂 I passed through all the checks without any issues and made it to Duty-Free. I was amazed at the price of Parliament cigarettes and glad I had stocked up on them at Pyaterochka for 68 rubles. In Duty-Free, a carton of Parliament (10 packs) cost 28 euros. o_O While it wasn’t bad compared to 25 dollars in New Zealand, paying 20 dollars per carton was still better. I was smuggling them, not for personal use since I don’t smoke. 🙂 I was really eager to experience the X-ray body scan where you don’t have to undress, but for some reason, I didn’t encounter one in any of my five layovers. While waiting for boarding, I wandered around Sheremetyevo, eventually finding Gate 42, where I unexpectedly saw my flight displayed. My boarding pass said Gate 53, and I had already gone there and seen my flight listed on the screens. Confused, I decided to return to Gate 53 just in case. On my way, I ran into a crowd of about 250 Chinese passengers, judging by the plane’s capacity. o_O Realizing immediately that I needed to head back to Gate 42, I hurried there. 🙂 Sheremetyevo amused me with the sign “On time departure,” even though the delay had already exceeded an hour. Finally, we boarded a shiny new Boeing 757 and took off. The first serving of Chinese airplane food was enjoyable—whether due to hunger or curiosity, I’m not sure. But after that, I hardly touched the hot meals. Despite being labeled “Chicken with Rice,” the chicken portion was disappointingly minimal. The sauce was 75% potatoes or some other vegetable. The “chicken” was mostly just a faint aroma.
Flight CZ6002 Moscow–Urumqi
After filling up, I fell asleep and woke up as dawn was breaking.
We landed in Urumqi at 7 AM. I started regretting that my Nikon D200 was almost useless in low light, as my phone was clearly outperforming it. 🙁
From the Russian passengers, it was just me and Max, who was flying to Taiwan to finish his master’s degree. Max helped me order an amazing beef noodle soup with various pickled and salted side dishes (served separately in little bowls). The portion was massive and cost only $12.
Unexpectedly, instead of just refueling, we switched planes to an older Boeing 737. Even more native Chinese passengers boarded, and the chaos began. 🙂 For starters, the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign and the fact that the plane was slightly taking off didn’t stop people from heading to the bathroom! 🙂 Every Chinese passenger seemed to have a mini thermos of tea and kept running to the flight attendants for hot water. The flight atmosphere felt a lot like a second-class Russian train. They served another meal, but after the delicious airport noodles, I skipped the weird chicken entirely and only ate the salads and crunchy snacks. An interesting thing about Chinese passengers—they seem to get restless sitting in one place for too long. Everything starts to ache, so they frequently do stretching exercises even while seated.
Flight CZ6002 Urumqi - Guangzhou
Meanwhile, we flew over the Tian Shan mountains. With peaks around 5000 meters high, they looked stunningly close!
We landed in Guangzhou. I filled out all the forms, passed through passport control, and got a free 24-hour visa right in the Urumqi airport, allowing me to explore the city freely.
Beforehand, I had found a local girl on Couchsurfing.org who agreed to show me around the city center for a couple of hours and then take me to a seafood restaurant.
Start paying attention to how close the buildings are to one another…
And look, I finally found a good spot! See how close these three different buildings are? The problem of overpopulation is visible to the naked eye.
There are a lot of parks designed for retirees scattered across the city, and elderly folks are always hanging out there. The park I visited wasn’t very big, but it was bustling with people.
It was fascinating to watch a 60-something grandpa L-sit on parallel bars — motivating things!
Nearby, there’s a free public toilet, but apparently, some folks prefer the grass 🙂 Considering the state of the grass, this happens a lot.
A group of people was playing poker! 🙂 Since gambling is technically prohibited, they were playing for tiny stakes like pennies or matchsticks.
If it weren’t for Jenny, my guide, I might have snuck in for free 🙂 No turnstiles, just tap your transit card here or there. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the ticket price.
Descending the stairs, I somehow immediately understood that the sign said something like, “Watch your step, mind the stairs,” etc. But, blinded by my own cleverness, I forgot to watch where I was stepping and, well, I took a happy tumble down them. 🙂
The Geoduck is an amazing mollusk—read about it on Wikipedia. It lives for over 100 years, staying in one place the entire time, while its siphon keeps growing longer and longer. Here’s a video of how seafood lovers harvest them…
Too bad I can’t eat any of those shelled creatures. 🙁
In the same aquarium, there was another gigantic fish lying at the bottom, already lifeless.
The food was incredible! It’s the kind of thing you could munch on like popcorn while watching a movie. It tasted like fried peanuts mixed with sunflower seeds.
The clams were tasty too, though extracting the meat was tedious for a beginner like me. Jenny, however, managed effortlessly with just two chopsticks. After enjoying all that delicious food, we headed to the subway. I had about three hours left until boarding.
The process of entering the subway is very similar to Moscow’s, but in China, the tokens are plastic and reusable! You enter the metro, buy a token for a single trip (its price depends on the distance), and the token contains an NFC or at least RFID chip. You tap the token at the turnstile and go through. When you reach your destination, you drop the token into the turnstile’s receiver to exit. That’s it—no litter! The process of buying the token is super fast: you pick your final station on a large touchscreen map, tap it, insert your card, and get your token.
The subway itself is like St. Petersburg’s, with platform screen doors separating the train from the platform.
I arrived at the airport and took a short walk
I’m not entirely sure if it’s free, but I saw people using those little airport vehicles.
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