Inflatable Beer Cooler

My first holiday in China was, I thought, well planned and well thought out.

I was newly single, having recently separated from my girlfriend of three years, the shortest of my 5 long-term relationships with women in the West, enough evidence that I was unable to maintain a lasting relationship with a woman born and raised in North America. I had always been attracted to Asian women, but never had the opportunity to act on this sentiment, and 48 years of age time was running out.

I had been planning the trip for several months and had even managed to combine it with two days of business in China which means my flight across the Pacific have been paid, and for 2 nights accommodation. I would spend two weeks in China and decided not to try to do too much, so I planned to spend time in 4 different cities, and then, above all, I spent several nights on the Internet and was successful align 4 different Chinese women to act as my dates and my guides in each city.

I felt a little guilty of that arrangement - Yes. I felt a bit like a cad - Yes. Was I looking forward to it in suspense - Oh yes!

The first leg of the trip, during five days before activity was originally was to be a night in Shanghai, then a train ride to Hangzhou, supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in China for a stay of 4 days with one of my Chinese ladies. I traveled across the Western Hemisphere, I carefully studied my "China - The Rough Guide" and I was quite confident in my ability to book hotels, train tickets and internal flights and on-site immediate use. So I boarded my flight on April 29, drank a few free rum and coke, swallowed a sleeping pill, grabbed a little sleep, and confidently touched down in Shanghai afternoon of April 30. The airport seemed very busy, but damn, it was China.

On the bus in Shanghai I had the chance to sit next to a Chinese university student eager to practice his English so I ended up explaining my travel plans for him. My first clue that something was amiss was the gentle look of interest on his face. He suggested he would be happy to help me get to my hotel, and since I had a couple of heavy bags, I accepted with gratitude. When we arrived at the hotel I had planned to set aside, there was surprisingly no rooms available, contrary to the advice of my best travel guide of confidence, indicating that you can almost always get a room in a hotel China. Only when my new Chinese friend said he was not surprised that I started to get a little stomach ache.

"Why, I asked," Are not you surprised? .

"Well, my boyfriend replied that was surprisingly good English," Tomorrow is Labour Day, and everyone in China is traveling tonight and next week. "

"What did you say?" Smart on my return, but his response has not changed.

"I think we should perhaps go to the station and try to get a ticket now" my little ally added.

At that time, I was very happy to have found a good and faithful sidekick, and I immediately adopted his plan. I would try to take a train now and sleep on the trip. Hangzhou Tomorrow I book my hotel I had booked in advance because of my expectation 4 Last night, need a place mentioned in the appointment. Fortunately, the train station was nearby, just a few blocks from the hotel we were in. Unfortunately, the queues for train tickets has begun in the hotel lobby. After fighting at the head of the queue of the train (the longest battle of my life, despite being assisted by two faithful and my sidekick cop a nice Chinese) I was informed that n ' there would be no train tickets for two days. My confidence began to decline.

My friend and I decided that the best thing I could do wa.