No passport No ticket

I never take a train from Shanghai Hongxiao Station as it’is further out of town and the trains usually go to Nanjing South Station which is also further out of town. In addition those two new stations are so vast that it can take days just to reach your check-in gate. However, someone persauded me that, as I had finished work early, I should try Hongxiao Station for a change.

I got on the metro (line 2) and managed to beg a seat for my aching wound. Getting to Hongxiao I joined the queue for tickets, clutching a piece of paper with my passport number on. Nowadays the Chinese government have become so controlling that you even have to have your ID number registered to your train ticket so they can check who is moving where.

I eventually get to the front of the queue and give her the money, my instructions and my passport number. But oh no…. she wants to see my actual passport. I lie. I tell her it is in the visa office getting a new visa. She insists…. no passport no ticket – she threw the money and the scrap of paper back at me. After a few minutes of shouting at her I realised that I was going to get nowhere so I gave up.

So now I am stuck in Shanghai and my passport is in Nanjing. How am I to get back to Nanjing if nobody will sell me a ticket? Then I had a brainwave…. I joined the queue of Chinese people at the auto-ticket machines. Westerners cannot use these machines as they can only scan Chinese ID cards. I ask someone in the queue if they can buy me a ticket using their ID card. One man takes pity on me and in a few minutes I have my ticket (albiet in his name!)

I cannot run but I walk as fast as I can without my wound tearing open. I clear security quickly by pushing in. Then there’s a very long walk to check-in gate 11. I don’t think my wound can make it in time. I spot a policeman in a comedy midget electric car. I beg him for a lift to the gate. I limp towards him and look pained and explain I am not well. He takes pity on me and shoots through the crowd, dispersing people as we go, horn sounding and elivered me just in time for the gate to open.

Phew…. that was close. I will try to rememebr my passport next time or get a ticket in Nanjing where a number scribbled on a scrap of paper is always sufficient to get you a ticket.