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khiemtranSo, I'm leaving the Shekou ferry pier at Shenzhen, on the last leg of my trip. All I need to do now is catch a taxi to the hotel.
I brush past the touts saying "Taxi! Taxi!" at the doors, and had straight to the cab rank as the locals do. When I get to the head of the queue, I greet the driver in Chinese and tell him I want to go to the Sheraton ("xi3lai2deng1") in Dameisha. As he pulls away, at the usual clip, he says he doesn't know where it is. That's I okay, I tell him, I have the address here. He pulls over and I hand him the carefully prepared slip of paper with the hotel's address. At this stage, I'm still quite confident that things are going to work out well.
He tells me to wait as he pulls out his cell phone and asks how to get to the Sheraton. I hear him say he doesn't know the way. After two or three drop outs, at last he gets and answer and we set off again, pausing only to agree on an inflated price rather than the meter rate, much as I had anticipated.
After the typical Chinese taxi experience (white knuckle near misses, accidents by the side of the road, full emergency braking as we approach speed cameras), I see the first sign to Dameisha. The only problem is, it's on an exit lane we didn't take.
The taxi driver calls for help again, and decides to take the next exit. He asks directions at every toll booth, which doesn't fill me with confidence. We get off the tollway at Xiaomeisha and turn back towards Dameisha. After asking the way once more, we get it to Dameisha, but then where is the Sheraton?
Up the street we go. The driver asks directions from a passerby and is told to go on further. A kilometre further and we're told to go back. Round and round we go, trying to read the street signs and hotel markings. Here, I'm starting to really regret not bringing my glasses in my carry-on. There are plenty of big hotels around, but none of them seem to be the Sheraton.
Just as I'm ready to get out and walk, the next passerby we asks says it's just 100 metres in front of us. We head up to an apparently unmarked driveway and there is a sign saying Sheraton, in front of the biggest hotel on the beach (which also happens to have a huge Sheraton sign on it, which was only visible apparently if you weren't coming from Xiaomeisha).
Slightly embarassed, we drive up to the lobby, I pay the inflated price and at last I can get some rest.
I brush past the touts saying "Taxi! Taxi!" at the doors, and had straight to the cab rank as the locals do. When I get to the head of the queue, I greet the driver in Chinese and tell him I want to go to the Sheraton ("xi3lai2deng1") in Dameisha. As he pulls away, at the usual clip, he says he doesn't know where it is. That's I okay, I tell him, I have the address here. He pulls over and I hand him the carefully prepared slip of paper with the hotel's address. At this stage, I'm still quite confident that things are going to work out well.
He tells me to wait as he pulls out his cell phone and asks how to get to the Sheraton. I hear him say he doesn't know the way. After two or three drop outs, at last he gets and answer and we set off again, pausing only to agree on an inflated price rather than the meter rate, much as I had anticipated.
After the typical Chinese taxi experience (white knuckle near misses, accidents by the side of the road, full emergency braking as we approach speed cameras), I see the first sign to Dameisha. The only problem is, it's on an exit lane we didn't take.
The taxi driver calls for help again, and decides to take the next exit. He asks directions at every toll booth, which doesn't fill me with confidence. We get off the tollway at Xiaomeisha and turn back towards Dameisha. After asking the way once more, we get it to Dameisha, but then where is the Sheraton?
Up the street we go. The driver asks directions from a passerby and is told to go on further. A kilometre further and we're told to go back. Round and round we go, trying to read the street signs and hotel markings. Here, I'm starting to really regret not bringing my glasses in my carry-on. There are plenty of big hotels around, but none of them seem to be the Sheraton.
Just as I'm ready to get out and walk, the next passerby we asks says it's just 100 metres in front of us. We head up to an apparently unmarked driveway and there is a sign saying Sheraton, in front of the biggest hotel on the beach (which also happens to have a huge Sheraton sign on it, which was only visible apparently if you weren't coming from Xiaomeisha).
Slightly embarassed, we drive up to the lobby, I pay the inflated price and at last I can get some rest.
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Date: 2010-01-17 09:51 pm (UTC)