sbdcsierra Chapter 1753 Buying Train Tickets
Chapter 1753 Buying Train Tickets
Chapter 1753 Buying Train Tickets
The exhibition hall is a magnificent but slightly old building in the Soviet style, with mottled marks on the walls. Inside, it is bustling with people, and various dialects and foreign languages are mixed together, along with the smells of sawdust, paint, leather and sweat.
The entire venue resembled a giant construction site, filled with various construction noises and shouts from exhibitors from all over the country directing the moving of goods.
The ground was rough cement, covered with glue marks and scratches left from previous exhibitions.
"Is this it?" Lin Xiuqing looked around curiously.
"Let them unload the goods first, and we'll go inside and find a stall."
Huge, hand-painted signs hung high up in the venue, so visitors only needed to find their booths.
There are also staff members inside the exhibition hall who can provide assistance.
They walked around and found their booth. Every booth around them was the same size, a standard 9 square meters.
And it only had the most basic configuration: a partition wall with rough plywood on three sides, a long table covered with red velvet, and two folding chairs.
Some booths nearby were already being set up. Ye Yaodong told Lin Xiuqing to stay where she was and he went out to call people to bring over the unloaded goods.
Regardless of gender, more than a dozen people helped with the moving, and after only two trips, they moved all the goods and exhibits to their 9-square-meter open space.
While they were moving things, Lin Xiuqing had already taken a walk around the area and learned how to arrange things.
They were all novices, so they could only learn by doing and then politely ask the exhibitors around them for advice. If they were missing anything, they had to go out and buy it on the spot.
While others finished setting up in half a day, they worked from morning till night to finally complete their exhibition hall.
When everything was completed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and some even collapsed onto the ground.
"Finally done, it looks decent."
"The exhibition starts the day after tomorrow, right?"
"So, do we have an extra day tomorrow?"
"Boss, can we go around looking around tomorrow?"
Ye Yaodong thought for a moment and decided not to restrict them too much, since it was a rare occasion for them to come.
"You can wander around, but someone needs to stay here to keep an eye on things. The thirteen of you will be divided into three shifts. I'll arrange the shifts for you after dinner later."
"We are unfamiliar with this place now, so don't linger outside for too long and don't cause trouble. It's very chaotic everywhere right now, with a lot of thieves and robberies, especially around here."
"Don't easily trust strangers who approach you. Just treat them all as scammers. It's better to avoid trouble."
"Don't carry your ID or other documents with you, they can easily be stolen along with your money. Also, never go out alone. If a group of you goes out, the same group of you must come back. Remember, this is not Zhou City, not your own backyard."
He kept repeating the instructions tirelessly, first before they set off, then again on the train, and now that they were going out for a stroll, he had to repeat them all again.
It's better to say it a few more times than to find yourself helpless when something really goes wrong.
No one dared to find him annoying, after all, they were out in a strange land and didn't know anyone. Last night at a night market, they saw several robberies and thefts, and the chaos made them afraid to leave the lamplight.
They waited until the exhibition hall closed before leaving.
During the meal, Lin Xiuqing suddenly spoke up, saying, "Since we have a whole day tomorrow to let everyone explore, why don't we just buy our return train tickets tomorrow and go back as soon as the exhibition ends?"
"It's not safe to be out and about, and it's tiring. This place is also very chaotic, as you can see. There are pickpockets everywhere. One day is enough to explore the area. We shouldn't stay in other places for too long."
"The longer we stay outside, the less safe it is. We are exhibitors, and the signs will be taken back after the exhibition. If they find out we don't have a temporary residence permit, it will be troublesome to be detained. It's better to just go back. We've already come here."
Ye Yaodong agreed with her; there were too many uncertainties when traveling.
“Ah Qing is right. Anyway, we’ve given everyone a day. You can buy what you need tomorrow, and then go straight home as soon as the exhibition ends.”
Everyone nodded in agreement; naturally, the boss had the final say.
"Okay, after we finish eating, we'll go to the train station to queue for tickets. It's about time we went to buy the tickets in advance."
I was originally planning to stay a couple more days after the Canton Fair ended, so I wasn't in a hurry to buy tickets.
After all, train tickets can only be purchased 3 to 5 days in advance now. In smaller cities, it's 3 days in advance, while in larger cities or during specific periods, it can be extended to 5 days. Moreover, you have to queue overnight. There's no 12306 or online ticketing system.
Each station basically only sells tickets for trains that stop at that station. Ticket sellers need to manually check the huge train seating chart hanging on the wall, and cross out a seat/berth with a pen every time a ticket is sold.
People need to queue overnight at the train station ticket windows, which is called "waiting for tickets." Whether you can buy a ticket largely depends on your position in the queue and the number of tickets allocated to the ticket window.
If you can't buy it, you'll have to pay several times the price to scalpers.
So when they were in Shanghai, they couldn't buy return tickets yet, so they could only buy them now.
Then, some state-owned foreign trade companies and large collective enterprises exhibitors have channels to report their ticket purchase needs, which are then handled by the organizers.
As my country's most important foreign trade event, the railway department reserves a portion of tickets for the Canton Fair and allocates them to foreign trade systems in various regions that have participation tasks.
However, they are private enterprises...private production units...
Naturally, this benefit is no longer available. Moreover, this is the first year since the policy reform, the first batch of private production enterprises to participate. Who cares about them?
You have to have your own ideas.
What could he do in Guangzhou? He could only have everyone take turns queuing overnight to try and get tickets.
Then it's best to bring your Canton Fair invitation letter and work ID, otherwise you might end up in line without a ticket. If you have the ID, you might be able to apply for and get a ticket.
Lin Xiuqing said, "Let's discuss it and go in pairs to queue up. Men and women can go together so they can look out for each other. We'll go after we finish eating, and each person will queue for two hours, which will be just enough time to get to the window where we're working. Luckily, the train station is close to our guesthouse, but we still need to be careful on the way there, especially at night."
"There's no need for men and women to go together. Let the two men take turns. After all, it's nighttime and not safe. Let's have a hard time with our men today."
As soon as Ye Yaodong finished speaking, the men all chimed in.
"The boss is right. Normally, men and women can work together, but it's not safe for female colleagues to go out late at night, so it's fine for us men to go queue up."
"Yes, the female comrades will wait until dawn to take over their shifts. It's already dark now, and the train station is in a mess."
"Then we'll leave it to you guys. We'll wait until around 6:00 AM, and then we'll go to take over the shift when it's light."
Everyone discussed it amongst themselves and had no objections; they were considerate of each other even when traveling.
Lin Xiuqing said with a smile, "How about this, the men can line up to buy tickets at night, and then during the day, we women can take turns looking at the exhibition hall."
Ye Yaodong gave her an approving look. "That's good, and it's fair. It's a division of labor. The men will do the work at night, and the women will do the work during the day."
Nobody objected. In a way, the women benefited because they didn't have to stay up late at night, but it was fair. Nobody did less work than anyone else.
Ye Yaodong looked at everyone, and seeing that no one was dissatisfied, he said, "Then let's do it this way. After we finish eating, we'll go line up and buy sleeper tickets. We'll buy as many as we can. If there aren't any sleeper tickets, I'll buy them from scalpers. It's too much of a hardship to travel 40 hours without a sleeper ticket."
"The ticket window won't be open until tomorrow morning. We'll go check on the ticket situation then tomorrow morning."
"Ah."
While eating, Ye Yaodong also wrote down the shift schedule on a piece of paper.
The men work the night shift and the women work the day shift, which is easy to arrange. They work in pairs and take turns, so they can have free time to go out during the day.
After he finished arranging the shifts, everyone took turns reviewing them, and everyone knew when they were supposed to be on duty and who they would be with.
Ye Yaodong and Lin Xiuqing were naturally scheduled to work at the venue tomorrow. They didn't plan to go out again in the evening and went back to the hotel after dinner.
Today was a tiring day, and tomorrow they will have to get up early to go to the train station to check the train ticket situation.
Buying train tickets is really difficult these days; it's a real ordeal.
Sometimes, even if you queue overnight, you might find that the sleeper or even seat tickets for the desired date and train are already sold out, leaving you with no choice but to reschedule or get a standing ticket.
Standing tickets are so uncomfortable, most people can't handle it. At least seated tickets allow you to sit down.
Ye Yaodong was determined to get a sleeper berth anyway, and he wasn't short of money. As for why he didn't spend more money to hire a scalper, it wasn't because he was unwilling to spend the money.
It's best to buy from official channels whenever possible, as scalpers may sell fake tickets, especially if they need a dozen or more.
Lin Xiuqing sighed, "It's really not easy to go out. Buying a train ticket is a huge problem."
“Our factory has so many veterans who come from all over the country. Every year during the Spring Festival, they have to bring their beds to the train station to sleep on the floor and queue up to buy train tickets. What are we compared to them?”
"Now that the Canton Fair is in full swing, although there are more train stations in Guangzhou than during the Spring Festival, there are definitely more than usual."
"Ah."
"There are two Canton Fairs this year, and we'll have to go through all that trouble again in the second half of the year."
"I have no choice but to come out to make money. It also broadens my horizons, so it's not bad. Guangzhou is quite famous for this."
"The farthest I've ever been north is Shanghai, and the farthest I've ever been south is Guangzhou."
"I'll take you to Beijing in a few years. At that time, the farthest place to go north will be Beijing."
Lin Xiuqing chuckled, "Sure, I'll bring my parents along."
"It's a pity that the old lady is too old, otherwise I could have taken her with me. If I could go to Beijing once in my life, I would have no regrets."
P.S.: I've been procrastinating again. I'll add another picture tomorrow during the day.