Saturday, May 3, 2008Hong Kong
Let’s face it. When it comes to travel in China, every moment is a learning experience.
Made it to the airport just fine on the complementary shuttle arranged for by the TDC (did I tell you they’re beyond gracious?). Found my way to the China Southern ticketing desk easily. Here’s where things begin to get interesting.
There are two hard and fast rules on domestic flights in China: (a) Only one, small carry on, period, and (b) zero liquids carried on, period. The former has been around for a while, but the latter came into play this March after a wannabe terrorist tried to smuggle a bottle of gasoline onto a China Southern flight (which, if you follow the logic in “The World According to Garp,” pre-disasters them from anything else scary happening in the future).
Fully prepared to pay for the second checked in bag (which is the third rule I forgot to mention), the ticket agent told me that as an international traveler, I was actually allowed two bags, no extra charge. Cool.
Hoping the same exclusions might extend to the carry on, I asked about liquids. Turns out that even though they tell you “zero liquids,” it actually means “up to ten liquids, each under the US equivalent of 3 ounces, in the equivalent of a 1 quart zip lock bag.”
Yeah. Okay. I’m good with that. Pull the lip gloss, contact drops, and mouthwash out of the checked luggage, put it in a new ziplock bag, and go through security.
From here, it’s gonna be clear sailing.
(Photo credit: Lowyat.net)
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