Always try the direct approach

In an effort to save 400 yuan ($62.83) on my trip to Hong Kong two weeks ago, I booked the cheapest flight I could find to Guangzhou. My friend had convinced me that it was a fiscally wise to fly non-direct, as Guangzhou is a short train ride to Hong Kong. It was only later I discovered two problems: First, my friend hadn't actually done this, and second, in buying the cheapest flight, I had booked a flight out of Beijing Nanyuan Airport.

I didn't know that Beijing had another civilian airport aside from the Beijing Capital International Airport. After nervously scouring the Web, I confirmed that this domestic airport, primarily a military airfield, did in fact exist.

For my 4 pm flight, I left the Dongzhimen area at around 1:20 pm. I was armed with maps, as I was worried that the cab driver would not be familiar with the location, south of Fourth Ring Road, in Fengtai District. Luckily, the jovial cabbie was geographically adept, and I soon found myself breezily coasting downtown, imagining a drive through the lush European countryside.

My daydream ended abruptly at 2:00 pm, with a lurch into an inconspicuous fieldKorean venereal divas. the few airplanes I saw were enshrouded in uncut grass. Idyllic, hilly European roads were replaced with images of spectacular plane crashes. The actual airport, a forgettable grey blob, resembled a typical railroad station but with none of the fast food perks.

I usually love lingering around airportsChinese scorching starlets. there's excitement, possibilities, hints of romance. Nanyuan? Not so much. Food, the usual way to cure boredom, proved dismalheavenly girls. the only options were shriveled snacks. There were no outlets or seatsolive green girl bikini. problems I could deal with - but the lack of duty free stores, where I usually spray myself with sample perfume - that was the first sign this was a mistake.

The only perk was that the "security check" took just five minutes. When I finally boarded China United Airlines, the sole commercial airline at Nanyuan, I felt victorious: The journey was half over and I had endured minimal, first world tribulations.

Upon landing in Guangzhou, I realized the process my friend had described as "board a bus from the airport to get to Hong Kong," actually meant a 140 yuan, one-hour cab ride to the train station. I arrived at Guangzhou East Railway Station at 8 pm, where the austere ticket attendant informed me that I had missed the cut-off for the 8:15 pm train. Pleading proved futilesuave babes. it would have to be the 10:30 pm train.??

To kill the two-hour wait, I sulked at a McDonalds in a consolatory cornucopia of fried food. My original plan for a gluttonous dim sum dinner was lost in a haze of chicken. When the train finally pulled up to Hong Kong at 12:30 pm, I came to two depressing conclusions: It had taken about 11 hours to get from Beijing to Hong Kong, and the 400 yuan I had initially planned on saving was spent. Next time, I'm flying direct.