Tickets Booked

So, I booked my tickets for Taiwan and Korea yesterday! Yippee! Should be great craic! But here’s a word of warning for anyone who wants to book stuff online. I used www.ctrip.com to book my tickets, cos I thought they’d be cheaper than a local travel agent. And they have English-speaking staff. Booked the tickets ok although it was a bit inefficient as usual, with them calling you back and forward. One person looked after booking and another looked after paying and so on. There’s a lot of that here. Anyways, I was all ready to pay using my credit card when they said that they only accept domestic Chinese credit cards!! Is there a difference, I hear you cry? Isn’t a credit card a credit card? Not in China. They seem to have their own credit card companies. They don’t readily accept international credit cards in a lot of places. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that Chinese currency is not convertible. So, because the company’s office is in Beijing, I couldn’t go and pay cash. I have found a student with a credit card, so tomorrow, hopefully we can pay with that and I can give him the money. Fingers crossed!

On another note (pardon the pun), I met a couple of lads in the canteen, who were playing electric guitars. I went over and asked if I could have a go, since I have never had a go on an electric! They were sound lads and were some of the first that I have met that don’t like the standard manufactured Wesilife-esque Chinese pop music! They are more into metal, which wouldn’t be one of my favourites, but I would guess they like other decent stuff as well. Hopefully they can show me some decent Chinese music!