(I'm the one next to the old guy)

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Last day in Shanghai

I mentioned before that hotel check-out in this country seems to be 1200. That's very generous, when most countries it's 1000.

As our flight out was leaving at 2000 tonight, our pickup was booked for about 1530. We expect to be sitting on our hands at the airport, but we may get lucky.

With that in mind, I asked reception for a late check-out. They offered 1400, so we had a very leisurely morning.

We get picked up by another Buik. Looks the same as the one that dropped us at this hotel 2 days ago, but it was a different provider. Obviously, this is a popular car in the people-moving business in Shanghai.
I think it seats about 7 or 9 in comfort.

In Beijing, the VW was a very popular car, and we did see many European cars in both cities. Xi'an was a little behind them, but there were still a few nice cars on the road.

We did notice that all vehicles on the road are quite modern. I asked Ricky about this in Beijing. He didn't know of any legal limitation like Singapore, but did suggest that the testing process may be too rigorous for older vehicles. Just another preconception about China getting blown out of the water, thanks.
As mentioned earlier, our standard point of reference when thinking about anything approaching a 3rd world country, will always be Bangladesh. We have been there a lot, and it really is the poster child for the 3rd world. Sorry.

Anyway, the testing regimen for seeing if a bus is sturdy enough to be safe on the streets of Dhaka, seems to be tipping it off a cliff. If it survived the fall, it is good for the road.
Anybody who has been there will agree that all buses, new and old, do not have a single panel in factory condition. Beaten. Battered. Rusty. And that's the newer ones.

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