After a very nice vacation in China, visiting Beijing, Shanghai, and Lijiang, we reached home in Germany today at around 1:20 in the morning. Yesterday, it was raining in Beijing. We took a taxi straight from the hotel to the airport, and I chatted with the taxi driver during the entire ride (thanks to translation apps; he said that the Doubao translation app is what he uses and that it’s currently the best one in China) about China, AI, computer science, technological and political advances, the economy, etc. At one point, I said: “The meaning of today’s rain is that Beijing is sad and crying because we are leaving China.” He smiled.
One interesting aspect I want to share from our one-hour discussion is this: he said that with his electric vehicle, he can drive 100 km while paying only 15 CNY (around 2 Euros) in electricity costs because electricity is extremely cheap in China. I was amazed to hear this. Now I understand much better why almost all cars in China are electric. It simply makes sense. Seeing my reaction, he continued: “In fact, the government subsidizes electricity costs for some types of cars up to 500 km. For example, someone can drive 500 km and pay only 12 CNY per 100 km, up to that limit.” I don’t remember all the details, but I was positively shocked.
When we arrived at the airport, we bought some final small gifts, snacks, and drinks (the best Red Bull I’ve ever had was in China; both the can design and the taste were excellent), and then flew for 10 hours to Frankfurt am Main Airport. There, I helped a Chinese girl carry her big bag for a while toward the luggage pickup area (with Dipty being a bit jealous that I didn’t carry her smaller bag instead). After collecting our luggage, we booked a train to Frankfurt am Main Hbf. We wanted to book first-class tickets to Chemnitz, but it would have cost more than 500 Euros for both of us, so we decided against it. Instead, we booked second-class tickets for around 250 Euros total. We also wanted to reserve seats, but the DB staff said it wasn’t possible, mainly because of some holiday or special travel situation. When we boarded the train, we found two nice free seats at a table. There, I shared some Chinese cookies from Lijiang, as well as some fried almonds from China, with a few German passengers sitting near us.
The funny thing that happened on the train was this: despite the train already being 30 minutes late, the conductor kept announcing at each of the three stations before Leipzig: “We are approaching X station. We will remain here for three extra minutes so that passengers who want to smoke a cigarette can quickly do so outside, because smoking inside the train is prohibited.” Everyone in second class was laughing after hearing this. I mean, come on, DB. The train is already 30 minutes late, and you are adding another three minutes at every station so people can smoke outside? WTF.
When we finally reached Leipzig, instead of having the originally planned 40 minutes to change trains, we had only 5 minutes left to reach platform 23 for the train to Chemnitz. I wasn’t walking toward the platform. I was flying. I had giant wings powered by the two Red Bulls bought in Beijing and emptied into my belly earlier aboard the Air China airplane while flying 10 km above the heads of the 8 billion people living on Earth. I made it in time. I had to, because otherwise the next train would have been around 5:20 in the morning. Just one minute after I boarded, the train departed.
The ride from Leipzig to Chemnitz takes about one hour. We did not enjoy it much because we were already extremely tired, and it was very late, finally reaching Chemnitz Hbf at 00:40. About 40 minutes before arriving in Chemnitz, while still on the train, I called a taxi company and asked the guy on the phone to send a taxi for 00:50 because we would arrive at 00:40. He said “okay,” and I said “perfect.” Reality? No taxi ever came from that company. I waited from 00:40 until 00:55 without seeing any sign of them. I tried calling the same number twice, but nobody answered anymore.
Suddenly, I saw another taxi from a different company parking nearby, and I asked the driver whether he was the one I had booked earlier. He said no, but that he was available and could take us home. We agreed. From Chemnitz Hbf to our home is exactly 2.9 km, about a 7-minute taxi ride. We paid 17 Euros for it, or 20 including the tip. In China, we would have paid around 15 CNY (roughly 2 Euros) for a 3 km DiDi/taxi ride, and there is no tipping culture there.
Ah, China, you wonderful place. Blessings to your people and political leaders who seek peace and invest in the peaceful development of China, building good relations with many nations around the world, especially with Russia, Iran, and other BRICS members. Europe has so much to learn from China, and even more to practice, because learning alone is not enough without action. My great-grandmother, Maica, as well as many other people, were right about China, and I’m happy that I visited it.
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