标题: Torturous business trip [打印本页] 作者: sv_ironhorse 时间: 2007-10-29 00:08 标题: Torturous business trip I promised myself to write my experience down after the business trip. This has got to be the worst business trip I ever made in China when things go wrong after one another. I am just so glad that I am back in Shanghai in one piece.
The company that I am supposed to visit is located in Linyi Shandong. On Thursday (Oct 25), I took an afternoon flight into Jinan to meet my colleagues from Tianjin Branch. We decided to put up in a 4-star hotel thinking that we will be spending the most 2 nights there. The hotel was so-so but breakfast was substandard. I had a doughnut and toast washed down with a cup of ultra-sweet coffee (taste more like sugar syrup). We hit the road at 830am from the Jinan hotel hoping to reach Linyi by noon, do the factory visit and return at night to Jinan.
Due to heavy fog, the expressway was closed. We were forced to travel down another route using the country road. There are a lot of traffic, animal and potholes on the road but our driver was speeding like he is on F1 track. So no surprise, within about 1.5hr of driving, he bumped into another car. We were forced to wait in the car for about 45 mins before he managed to settle the affair with RMB500 and a cigarette. I was getting impatient and regret that I didn't take the direct flight into Linyi.
After another 1 hour on the country road, we managed to find another entry into the expressway which surprsing was OPEN! Once we are the expressway, the driver stepped on the accelerator and drive like there is no tomorrow. We did 180kph on a Nissan Sunny 1.5. I am just so glad that the wheels stay attached to the car all the time.
However, we were forced to slow down as there is a massive traffic jam. So we have another waiting episode in the car not knowing what causes the jam nor when the jam will be cleared. As we inched slowly along the expressway, we realised that the jam was caused by a chain accident. There are at least 8 to 10 trucks and cars that smashed into one another. This was possibly due to the heavy fog the night before. Looking at the condition of vehicles, there must be a few casaulties. A chill ran up my spine.....
We managed to reach Linyi at 2pm after 5.5 hours on the road and legs (buttocks) all cramped up. We managed to finish the necessary visits by 6pm. The host said that it was too late to go back to Jinan and suggested for us to stay in a hotel in Linyi. We had dinner at the hotel where we were supposed to stay. We finished dinner at 10pm and just when we were about to get the key to our room, the hotel managed told us that the water pipe broke and there is no water supply to our room (so no bathing and burshing teeth!). Our host was furious and decided to go to another hotel nearer to town for the night. We then hopped into the car again.
The supposedly half an hour drive turns out to be an hour drive. The fog was so heavy at certain parts of the road that it was impossible to see anything more than 5 feet away. The car moved at crawling speed at these sections. The accident scene that we saw in the morning on the expressway flashed across my mind. I felt like telling the driver that I will get out of the car and walk to the hotel. I noticed that there were a few cars that sped past us in that condition. I can only pray for them!
We reached the hotel at almost 1130 and managed to get the rooms for the night. The only problem was that since we were not prepared to stay in Linyi, our luggage is still in China. I was forced to sleep in my business attire for the night. I never tried that before and it really felt strange. I wore exactly the same attire the next day for my visit to another factory in Linyi. The plus point is that I noticed there is no fly or mosquito near me that day....
The fog was very heavy on the next day. So again, the expressway was closed and wer were forced to travel on a country road to another factory. The condition was worse than the Jinan-Linyi country road. The road is only fit for 4-wheel drive not a Nissan Sunny. I was glad that I didn't have too much for breakfast. The bumpy ride will certainly reveal what I had for breakfast!
We reached the second factory after 1.5 hr of bumping along the country road. We managed just to scan (instead of visit) the factory and left Liniy at 11am for Jinan. I was hoping to catch the 3pm flight back to Jinan. My flight was booked at 12pm but I knew that I have to miss the flight unless I can "beam" myself back to Jinan. The driver compassionately shared my urgency and demonstrated his F1 skill again on the expressway. All of us buckled ourselves back and pray fervently throughout the ride. Despite his attempt, we hit Jinan at 2.30pm, too late to catch the 3pm flight. I went to the airline counter in the city and enquired for the next 7pm flight. I was told that the flight was full and the only flight available was 1030pm.
By then, I have resigned to the fact that the has to be the worst business trip. I bought the 1030pm ticket, spent 3-8pm washing up, eating dinner at KFC, did some works on my laptop and keep thinking what have made things to be so wrong in this trip. I reached my home in Shanghai at 12pm midnight. I must say that I missed home so much and my home felt like heaven when I stepped in.
I SMS my colleagues that this trip felt so wrong from the beginning. Someone somewhere must be telling me not to proceed with this transaction!!
