Guangzhou Airport, China [layover]

16th of November 2023; 4:20 pm

After half an hour of manoeuvring above this truly monstrous megapolis, I land in Guangzhou in order to catch a connecting flight to Auckland - my final destination. I was unable to get the boarding pass all the way to New Zealand because the layover in China is slightly longer than 24 hours (the beauty of booking the cheapest flight possible through the murky website) and so I will have to obtain it here in China. 

Door of the airport shuttle bus open, I go straight to the border control rather than connecting flight lounge like the rest of the flight, after 20 minutes of waiting in line man in the uniform stands up from his chair and informs me that I need to go elsewhere first to get my 24h transit visa. On the way there I pick up "Arrival/Departure Card For Temporary Entry Foreigners" form assuming it will come in handy at the counter, I borrow a pen from the guy in front of me who borrowed it from the guy in front of him, who got their permit and disappeared, so the pen belongs now to the guy I borrowed the pen from.

At the counter man in the uniform with the badge number "211159" surrounded by at least 15 different surveillance cameras informs me that in order to acquire a transit visa I need to book a hotel, I say that I don't want to book a hotel and will stay at the airport, he replies that this is not possible, but perhaps people from connecting flight lounge might be able to help me.

Another queue line, people are being called ahead of me because their flight is already boarding, mildly enthusiastic man in the uniform without a number says that my baggage has already entered People's Republic of China and so I have to obtain the transit visa to get it back otherwise it will stay in this country after my departure. He points me towards a cash point - saying that I will be able to get a WiFi there in order to book accomodation.

At this point I can picture that glorious episode of Asterix and Obelix in which they are being directed from one office to another to sort a simple formality. It helps me remain in good spirits, I got time and I'm curious what will happen next.

I approach the WiFi cash point, it asks me to scan my passport after which it spits out a receipt containing my own personal login and password to the airports WiFi. I connect to it, WhatsApp is not working, so is Google and neither of my GPS apps. Luckily I got Hostelworld app installed and it manages to find me a hostel called "Lazy Gaga" for £18 per night, I have no intention to actually go there but I book it, get email confirmation and swiftly head back to the transit visa counter. "211159" checks my paperwork again and grants 24h transit visa, although there's plenty of free pages in the passport, he stamps it right next to my American visa which I find eerily funny.

I run back to the border control just in front of a British couple being stuck in the exact same scenario (murky websites, cheap deals you know the drill), girl is not taking it well and starts to literally push her partner around while shouting at him, meanwhile he just repeats "We have to go through this together" like a mantra, I wish them well. After another 20 minutes in the queue I cautiously approach the counter and after allowing to scan all of my fingerprints I am granted access to China. As I approach the conveyor belt, last item remaining on it is my backpack, it greets me with absolutely no sympathy but at least it has no queries.

I spend the night at the Terminal 2 of the Baiyun Airport, "International & Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan" trying to get some sleep, which I don't hence the blog post. I also scan through the back of the departure card called "Important Note", it says:

"Residence registrations are compulsory. Those who do not stay hotels should, within 24 hours upon arrival go through residence registration at the local police station. According to relevant law and regulation of China, violators shall be warned and imposed upon a fine of not more than RMB 2.000 yuan".

There's a lot of plants scattered around the airport all of which look like they are made of plastic but upon a closer inspection they all turn out to be live, immaculate, succulent organisms, time has come to admit my own bias and it's deafeat. Only one guard challenges me about the itinerary during the night on the airport but he seems content with the visa sticker I show him. Owls are not what they seem but it looks like it would have been wiser to stay at "Lazy Gaga" after all.

Thanks for reading!