The first time I went to Xian, China’s ancient capital before moving to Peking (Beijing), was in 1999. The airport terminal looked like something out of Casablanca. Stairs were rolled into place and we walked to the terminal.
The last time I went was in 2008 and there was a new airport that would put most in America to shame.
China is replacing old airports and building new ones—hundreds, and they are building them with the future in mind. China is also planning to buy another 218 aircraft this year.
I flew with Dragon Air
In 1999, the taxi driver cheated us. He said his meter was broken, but he’d give us a bargain, which turned out to be higher. Then the hotel tried to cheat us. While my wife was arranging a car and driver to take us to see Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb and the Terra Cotta Warriors, the desk clerk said we would need two cars.
I saw a sign in a corner that said vans were available and the price was lower. I picked up the sign, carried it to the desk, and held it where my wife saw it. She turned to the clerk and if words could fly, her’s would have been arrows. We got the van.
See more about Xian
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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