Coming back to Beijing the second time around was the worst. Hence, here is part two of the t
ravel nightmare I wrote a few days ago. After three weeks of vacation in the Philippines, it was finally time to go back to Finland. Same as the first ticket, we have a stop in Beijing. Since our first visit was a failure, we hope that this time around we can explore the country and be happy. But we are so wrong! Because right after we landed the nightmare has started again.
When we arrived at the immigration they could not understand our ticket, so we waited over 20 minutes just to stamp our passports. It was a totally waste of time. We were basically hoping everything will go smoothly and fast so we have enough time to explore the city. But then again, things happened at the airport just like before that we really do not like. After we are cleared from the immigration we hurriedly hop the train to the station where we can go out or shall I say exit from that place. Talk about excitement huh!
We are very tired and sleepy so we rented a limo to take us to the hotel so we can rest right away, clean our face, brush our teeth and then start our city tour. Even though it was very expensive, around 60euros just to bring us to the hotel. When we arrive at the hotel, it was full of people and very noisy. And the front desk has one guest. We waited, and waited, and waited to be entertained but no one did. Not even a hello or good morning or afternoon! I was shocked! Don’t they care about their guests at all? I know what customer service is because I once worked in a hotel before. More than 30 minutes standing at the front desk until we finally talk to the in charge. Our hotel room was booked in advance and paid already. But it seems that they could not check it.
They checked our passports for our names. And we even gave them a copy of our hotel receipts. We booked it online. One lady told us; “you “hubby” cannot check-in in our hotel because you only allowed 72 hours here”. really? Did hubby answer, is that your new law? We asked the Chinese embassy about our case and they said we are allowed to stay in the city within 72 hours that means we can have explored the city and stay in hotels if we want to. And then the lady went inside. I called someone, talking to someone. When she came back she had another reason she said; “you cannot (me) check-in because you are allowed only until tomorrow”. I said what? that’s why I get a visa so I can go out of the airport with my family. My visa is valid until 2014 with two entries. She insisted that we really cannot check-in because of our situation even though we have flights the next morning. She insisted that my visa has already expired, and so on and so fort!
I was very upset. I wanted to slap a face. How could you not let us check in when we already paid and we have visas? I said, “okay give us back the money we paid“. And I said in a loud voice “that’s why we need to stay in a hotel because we cannot stay whole night at the airport with a cranky toddler“. I was very upset because I was very tired and sleepy and we wasted so much time already. When supposedly we’re already visited their tourist spots. I was very frustrated. And after a few minutes, the other lady told us that our room was ready in 5 minutes. If I wasn’t angry in front of them they won’t give us a room. What a stupid hotel. You have to argue them firsts. It takes about an hour to finally lie down in our bed and rest awhile. That was so crazy and unbelievable. They have lots of reasons why they won’t let us check-in in their hotels. No one would understand why they do that…. to the tourist who has paid the rooms already.
For God’s sake, how can someone tell you you are not allowed to check-in in their hotel? Even if you have money and you can afford it? Do they know what customer service is? We were there like a criminal or something. Really no one deserves that kind of treatment. Rich or poor! That’s so unacceptable. What if we left. Their hotel lost money, right? And customers too, of course! The reason we need to stay in a hotel is that our connecting flights are in the morning the next day. We have a sick, cranky toddler. We cannot stay the whole day the whole night at the airport. Besides, that trip was planned a few months ago. And we are very excited about it. Oh well, that was so unforgettable experience, indeed.
Everything happened to us in Beijing was so unfortunate. We spent a lot of money and we wasted our time. We didn’t have a chance to have a city tour because of the bad things that happen. I promise not to come back to that place anymore unless someone who can speak mandarin is with us. It is sad when people work at the airport and didn’t know how to speak English. How can you communicate with other people particularly the tourists? In the Philippines, people are very hospitable and willing to help you when you need help. Oh well, at least we were able to see their country. It was very nice to visit at least learn their culture in a very short time. And for learning what kind of people they are. At least, we got to see the square, forbidden city and their city itself on our own. (More on that on the next post.)
And anyway, we met “two” good Chinese. Enough for us to know that at least there are two among thousand people who treat us right and in a friendly way. One from a restaurant where we had dinner, that even though the food isn’t that good, hubby had an open heart to give the waitress a tip. Just because she was very nice and friendly, and not to mention she speaks English and we understand each other well. The other lady was the one who offered us a limousine. She works in car rentals. She was nice and very helpful.
Lastly, the experience was so unforgettable. And made us realize that language is very important, especially learning the international language which is English. Everyone should learn and understand. Or maybe I should learn mandarin too?
Have you ever had a travel nightmare?
