Enter The Dragon

We took the subway from Hong Kong to the last subway stop then walked to the boarder.  Clearing HK immigrations was a quick procedure, then we queued up to enter mainland China.  There was a huge LED sign with Chinese characters that looked quire imposing.  Patti took Tara in one line and I took Riley in one next to it.  It quickly became evident that Patti choose the better line as they moved more swiftly.  I think the supervisor was running my line as other agents made several trips over with passports for her to presumably double check.  Riley went first and was met with the same stern look as the previous travelers  but she was admitted as was I after a bit longer of a stare.  I did not know whether I should continue to look in her eye or break the contact, I chose the former.

First stop was the toilets as the kids had been in the train for a bit and we were not sure how the overnight bus trip was going to work out bathroom wise.  The bathrooms were the first stark reminder that we were getting further into China.  We had told Riley about the squat toilets for quite some time, but applying the learning for the first time left her a bit grossed out.

Our intent was to get an early start to our border crossing just in case there were any issues.  God willing there were not, so we had about a 30 min wait until someone picked us up for the overnight bus ride.  While we were waiting, right next to us a man started yelling at the border guards and a crowd quickly gathered.  That seemed like a ideal time to grab our packs and move away.  The shouting match continued and escalated as more people and guards were drawn in.  Then our connection found us and we followed him out of the Shenzhen border crossing.  Shenzhen looked a bit like Hong Kong and I was told that a lot of folks work in HK and live on the mainland as it is much cheaper.  It may be like working in El Paso and living in Tiajuana.

OK, so the adventure never ends.  There were 6 of us, 4 Huths, 1 guide and 1 bus connection man.  Our man was trying to get cabs for us but for some reason, no one wanted to take us from the pick up queue.  Re: the use of the word 'queue', our guide is a Brit and it is sometimes easier to speak 'her' language ;-).  From there he tried to snag a cab from the drop off line and was finally successful.  The 4 Huth's and their bags got in and made room for the guide, but the connection man slammed the door and the cab took off.  A few minutes later, the cab with the others zoomed by and our cab started the pursuit, but he was not keeping up.  I remember praying to God, please let us stay behind license plate BL3FO5.  That sounds easy enough when you are picturing traffic in your typical American big city, but this is China.

I think there were four lanes on this road, but it did not matter, you could probably add 50-75% more virtual lanes to what was actually in paint on the surface.  I saw very few drivers that were staying between the lines.  These guys very going back and forth from one side to the other taking every gap they could squeeze or honk into.  Our cabby was falling behind.

Then he gunned it in a way more hair raising then a few of the rides at Disney.  His pursuit did not stop with catching up, but he overtook and we found ourselves in the lead which had me more concerned than with our former condition.  Did this guy ever lead, we completely lost the other cab.  Thankfully that all ended with a hard brake and a swerve to the right across a few lanes.  We pulled in behind a parked bus and shortly thereafter our guide and bus man showed up.  We threw our bags underneath and climbed aboard.

Patti and I have been on overnight buses before.  They were simply regular buses that drove through the night.  This was different, it had 3 rows of bunks down the bus length that were 2 high.  Weird.  The kids loved them and instantly piled themselves into the top bunk.

I had a fitful sleep.  The bus driver managed his task a little less erratically then the cab.  Every time there was a sizable swerve it was a little like turbulence on a plane.  Which by the way, the turbulence from Anaheim to Shanghai was the worst that I had ever had the pleasure of surviving.  God is the pilot I kept telling myself.  This was not just some calming mantra, but what is very much the case.  His power created and sustains the universe in a uniform way.  A way that is non-random and non-chaotic.  Being God, which by definition gives Him control over all things, including how and when I will go to meet Him.  I had to tell myself the same thing on this bus and not think about the fact planes do not have oncoming traffic or stationary trees to be concerned with.

OK, so much for now.

Pics and stories from Yangshuo coming tomorrow.