Beware of HKG hustlers

Mom and Dad Adgate arrived in China last night after 24 hours of travel. This is their second trip here (they visited last June), but their journey from the Hong Kong Airport (HKG) was full of surprises.

We discussed via skype last week all the ways they could get to Shenzhen: ferry if their flight didn't get in too late, private hired car driven by a guy named Chester, bus, or metered taxi. In the end it seemed to make the most sense economically speaking for them to take the bus or a cab to Shenzhen Bay Port border crossing. This is also known as Shenzhen Wan Ko An in Mandarin, which I explained and spelled out for dad.

I got a text message from mom around 8:40 pm saying their plane had landed, which made me giddy, anxious, and very ready to see them. Two hours later, instead of a text to let me know they were through customs and ready to be picked up on the Mainland side of the border crossing, I got a phone call from dad saying they had been hustled at the airport into hiring a private car, had just paid a small fortune to get out of said car on the side of the road, and they had no idea where they were. Ack! Panic set in. Private car hustler was not one of the options we discussed last week.

Fortunately, they weren't completely lost. And they are experienced travelers. They were close to a bus station where they were able to catch a bus and eventually a shuttle to a different border crossing. I called Mr. Wong, the most wonderful driver in Shenzhen - maybe all of China - and begged him in Chinglish to pick me up and take me to the Honggung Customs location about a half hour from our house (Shenzhen Bay Port, where they were supposed to come through, is 10 minutes from where we live).

We met up about 11:20 p.m. Mr. Wong and I helped mom and dad navigate through a sea of hustlers and panhandlers, and we arrived safe and sound at the apartment around midnight. Wheh!

I'm very sleepy this morning, as I had to leave the house at 7:30 a.m. for work. I'm on the way to a printing factory where I will spend the day reviewing and approving / giving the OK for production of boxes for 6 new Paint craft kits. I'm already looking forward to going home to spend time with my family.