...I land in Shanghai and am confronted with a very slow immigration line. Seeing as things take so long here I decide to skip the sightseeing trip to the city and hang around the terminal instead
...I appreciate that everything looks quite western and neat, is nicely signposted and squeaky clean.
...I notice wifi (even paid access) is terribly slow here. Nothing major loads at all. Facebook is of course blocked but so is Gmail I think because I can't even check my mail.
...I find that in China, like anywhere else, white models are used in most of advertising.
...I see that my card doesn't work at McDonald's so I change some € and buy my first Chinese cappuccino. Tastes like normal.
...I'm somehow amazed at the lack of any Christmas decorations here. Duh!
...I laugh at some funny English in names of airport restaurants: see photos.
...I observe that toilet doors are appropriately marked depending on whether it's a western toilet or a squat one. And hooks inside toilets for hanging your clothes are marked as supporting a load of 5 kg or less. How convenient.
...I order some local food at an airport restaurant (not without difficulty - the menu is full of knuckles, stomachs, cartilage and other weird body parts): the food gets served in a sort of a bucket and the €3 Tsingtao beer - in a bottle, without a glass.
...I notice that China is so far the only country I've been to that requires filling out a form not only on arrival but also on departure. What do they do with all that paper?
...I board the plane and my boarding pass is torn off twice - once per each consecutive check, becoming smaller and smaller. I was wondering whether they would leave anything to let me know where my seat is...
...I get served dinner on the plane with an unusual combination of ingredients such as: radish, butter, gingerbread cookie, watermelon and garlic beef
...I browse through the entertainment system in front of me and laugh at some movie descriptions clearly written by Chinese authors in English or translated quite directly:
"Movie is gorgeous and decent. Special effects are highly regarded", "The main roles are the lovely animals, try their best to let you feel the crazy" or "The film is mixed with amazing magics and an attractive team." Drop me an email for more examples :)
...the flight attendant (or several, I have trouble telling them apart) tells me 3 times to not use the iPhone on the flight (even in airplane mode). They're very patient with me, so far no threats.
...she came for the fourth time now so out of respect for the crew I'm finishing this in the toilet.