The day started extra early – at 3 AM because we needed to catch the redeye from Guangzhou to Nanjing. I was surprised how large the airport was. The last time I’ve been to this airport was over 20 years ago when I visited China the first time after immigrating to the US. Anyway, after getting through security check, I began to look for coffee and thankfully, I found some because I don’t think I could’ve last the morning.

When it was time to board, we boarded a bus which took us out to where the plane was parked. This wasn’t the first time I had to board a plane in this manner but it’s definitely an experience when I get to see the sunrise before boarding the plane.

Though the plane ride was only 90 minutes, we still got breakfast, which was strangely filling and delicious.

When we arrived in Nanjing, the first order of business was to find our way to the hotel and as always, my mom ignored my suggestion and asked her cousins for direction to the hotel. It was discovered shortly that both of the cousins she had asked to accompany us on the trip didn’t know much about taking public transit or how to operate a phone. I was willing to help but I don’t read Chinese.

Through asking a couple of security guards and customer service representatives, we eventually made our way to the subway station and boarded the only train available, which sped from the airport and toward the city. As the train surfaced from beneath the ground, I got a glimpse of the city. It was quite green and lush. This place must get a lot of rain to be this green.

After about 30 minutes or so, we reached our transfer stop. At this point, I was still clueless of where we were going since my mom refused to share the address as if it was a big secret. When we stepped off the first train, none of us knew where to go and my mom did nothing but made us follow her. I kept pleading, “Just give me a minute, give me the address and I can figure it out.”

She had tried to ask customer service but the man knew nothing. Apparently, no one needed to know much to sit at the customer service desk. It took a while to figure out which was the next train to take, and you know what? It was the wrong train! It led us to the stop that was almost 3 kilometers from the hotel. Instead of taking another train, we hailed a taxi instead.