Tuesday morning

No ticket confirmation. It is a bit before 8:00 am, Tuesday morning, and we leave the hotel at 9:00 for the airport.

We are trying to decide if we want to try to go to Xiamen after all this. What with the water stoppage, ticket snafu, lack of contact with agent, etc. Maybe someone or something is trying to tell us not to go?

We do have tickets from Jing de zhen to Shenzen. Shenzen is just across the line from Hong Kong, and the thought has crossed my mind why struggle to fly all the way up to Xiamen after all this, Xiamen is really almost parallel with where we are, just can’t get there directly. Maybe just go on to Hong Kong from Xiamen and spend an extra day or two there. No way we would run out of things to do in Hong Kong, but part of the purpose of the trip from the start was to go to Xiamen. I was part of the Sarasota, FL Sister City delegation to Xiamen in 2007 and had hoped to make some contacts and strengthen some previously made.

So Grace and I are on hold right now, waiting, which I do not do very well. I’ll call the Beijing office in a few minutes and see what they have to say for themselves.

Any suggestions from home on what to do?

Love this place.

Called Beijing but could not get through. Called again, then called the front desk and asked if I was calling properly. No.

I called again this time the right number, but no answer. But then noticed the Beijing office opens at 9:00, not 8:00. At 9:00 we will be in the car on the way to the airport. Chance Albert will let us use his cell phone to call Beijing?

Unknown in a foreign country where you neither read nor understand the language can sometimes be fun, but just as often be frustrating.

More later, gotta unplug and go.