Dubai 2019.02.13-02.18

I went to Dubai with my parents before the winter break ended. I finally procrastinated, procrastinated, procrastinated for half a year, and wrote this travelogue before the summer break ended. We chose a group tour for Dubai. The total cost for the three of us was 24,500, which was a bit expensive, but the accommodation was quite nice. Including optional activities, the per-person cost was over 10,000. Of course, if we had chosen more ordinary accommodation, it would have been cheaper. But this was my dad's first time abroad, and also our family's first overseas trip together. Besides, we were going to Dubai, such a wealthy city. If we didn't stay somewhere decent, how could we blend in better, hehe.

I originally thought Dubai was a country, but after arriving I learned that Dubai is a city belonging to the United Arab Emirates. On this trip we also visited several other cities. Dubai is four hours behind China, so time always felt slow there. We flew on A380 double-decker planes both ways. On the way there we sat on the lower deck, and on the way back we sat on the upper deck. It was truly a luxurious journey. In Dubai, you can't video call with people in China; neither Facebook nor WeChat works. Maybe it's because of the ethnic minority, with extra protection. The people there follow Islam and are very traditional. Women cover their heads with scarves in public, and some even cover their entire bodies except for their eyes. This is because UAE culture dictates that after marriage, a woman should only show every part of her body to her husband. Women don't have to work, and men can marry up to multiple wives. When taking tourist photos, if you accidentally capture a white-robed man or black-robed woman, they will really mind and yell at you.

Alright, now let's start our six-day, five-night show, haha.

2019.02.13

On this day, our flight was at 7:30, with a meeting time of 4:00. We woke up at 2:30 and booked a car on Ctrip for 3:00. Actually, I couldn't sleep at all; I had things on my mind, so I couldn't fall asleep. I'd sleep on the plane. At 3:00 we went downstairs, but the driver took the wrong way and ended up at the Jixiang Garden community in Shunyi, arriving a bit late. We were anxious, but luckily nothing was delayed. After arriving at the airport, we met up with the tour group. It was a small boutique group of about twenty people. Two boys were on a graduation trip, and most others were with kids. My parents were the oldest in the group.

An eight-hour long-haul flight—I spent it sleeping and watching movies. After getting off the plane, we went to immigration. Wow, their efficiency really deserves a mention. Actually, there weren't many people going through the process, and there were many counters, but inexplicably the processing speed was extremely slow. What was infuriating was that the staff at different counters kept chatting while working, and sometimes they would make waiting people wait for five or ten minutes just because they were chatting. Later I learned that there are very few locals in Dubai, and their work benefits are very high, so they believe life is more important than anything else, resulting in very low work efficiency.