Wuhan Banking Errand Successful

Today's weather: High = 8 Low = -1
Sunny and clear

Things are warming up a bit here ... and finally with some time off on a weekend, I figured it was high time to do this Wuhan banking errand and pick up my lost card. Thankfully it was a success and I now have access to about 10,000 RMB that was unclaimed from last year. I put in an application to replace the lost card on a previous trip through Wuhan with my new passport back in August. Since the application was going to take some time to approve, I would then be based in Shanghai later, and would not have time to make another trip back to Wuhan and pick it up.

Until now, that is 4 months later.

Obviously, sending the card to me in the mail or having a friend deliver it to me were not going to be options. In China, you must go back to the home branch of wherever it was that issues a document that you lost or had stolen, i.e. drivers license, bank card, ID card or what have you. No exceptions. This makes it all the more important that you never, ever, ever lose things or get things stolen in China. If you do, it's a royal hassle.

Recall back in July I lost my passport, two computers, bank cards, driver license, and many other things while in a black-market taxi on the way to the Wuhan airport that took 4 hours in despicable traffic jams. This was after leaving that awful city with the completion of my contract.

Because of that experience, I've never taken another black taxi again. But last night was a disgusting reminder of how prevalent they are in Wuhan. Because of the despicable traffic situation in that city, those taxis thrive, as all other means of transport are either congested or unavailable.

Did I tell you just how much I HATE the traffic in Wuhan? It was the primary reason I left.

What makes the situation worse is that, ironically, there are now high-speed trains between Shanghai and Wuhan that have improved big time. They now only take 4 hours, as the one I took last night was like this. They depart from the new Hongqiao station in Shanghai and use the new high-speed bullet train route to Nanjing that was recently completed. Because of that fact, I left at 2:30pm after classes and got there just before 7pm on Friday night.

The original plan was to head into my hotel, drop off my stuff, and then catch a party with some old colleagues from Maple Leaf later that night.

That plan totally went awry just after stepping out the train station. It was just a total mess. Noise and shouting everywhere, black cabs galore, throngs of people crossing the street in every disorderly maner possible, and the actual roads were clogged with traffic and all manner of vehicles breaking the rules. Obviously, nobody was going anywhere. Taxis were not stopping, even with the lights on to indicate they were "available". I was simply being ignored, and the only way to get anywhere was to hoof it on foot.

So I walked from the train station to my hotel, in the hopes of being able to catch a bus or a taxi along the way. The roads were all congested the entire way, even way past 9pm at night, and there were no options of being able to get a bus or taxi --- despite all the attempts to try.

Of course, zillions of black taxis, motorbiker, and even scooters offered me rides but I refused every last one of them. After last July's incident of losing my stuff on a ride like that, I vowed never, ever again.

Finally making it to the hotel I scratched the plan to catch a party and just fell asleep. The next day, Saturday, I was luckily able to find a taxi and took it way to the outskirts of the city by the #3 Ring Road bridge. Then I changed to another taxi, crossed the bridge, and made it to the bank near the Wanke area. This was to avoid all the jams along the #1 Yangzte Bridge, which is even worse now. After about an hour of waiting at the bank and explaining my case, I finally got the card with all the cash.

That money will be used for the upcoming winter break trip.

The ongoing thing about Wuhan is I simply don't know how the hell I managed to survive almost a year of this crap before. It boggles the mind how backwards and congested the place is --- maybe some people can hack it, but they've got to be super people. Living in Shanghai for the last 4 months shows just how much of a positive difference it is with everything you can think of, and I'm glad to have switched over.