Kunmin, Ronaldo, and never overstuff a backpack in China
The first time aI heard of Kunming was when I booked my flight for
Beijing from Vientiane, and had to change planes here. I figured it
would be a tiny provincial airport. It might be provincial, but its
in no way tiny. Kunming, from the air, is a sprawling metropolis, a
collection of ugly buildings against a backdrop of lush green
vegetation. I even saw a lovely golf resort from the air!
The airport is massive, and a hub of chaos. There are people
everywhere, more so than in India, and the airport has facilities
equal to any western airport, barring ATMs, of which I found none. In
sheer size, its probably larger than Mumbai’s airport, with 50 check-
in counters, eleven security check lines, and seventeen gates. And
the flights from here are mainly regional.
Here’s an example of the purchasing power of China – At the airport I
came across a huge billboard for Golden Throat Lozenges, with none
other than Brazil’s Ronaldo holding a packet of the company’s product!
I was stopped while clearing customs, and in addition to asking me my
life history, the officer proceeded to take every article out of my
backpack, which I had painstakingly packed in Australia so as to fit
all the items without bursting, and now my order had been disrupted.
It took me about twenty minutes to repack everything, and yet it
wasn’t the same. A couple of stitches came undone, and my backpack is
now at serious risk of coming apart.
While the customs official was inspecting my items with great
interest, I found it mildly amusing that most of the articles that he
found interesting were Made in China! Mundane things, like durable
cleaning cloths that my mum had me pick up in Australia, a sliding
photo frame I got for my birthday from my cousin, my iPod and laptop,
and the backpack itself… all were made right here, in China!
