HSR to Hangzhou
ON a whim, we decided to take a trip to Hangzhou about a day before our flight home.
The Odd Extra-Long Flight Home
When we woke up to go to the airport, I noticed a text from Air Canada that our return flight would be 7 hours delayed. That’s great, 7 hours extra in Shanghai and no rush to get to Pudong Airport. we spent some more time with friends, were able to grab some dim sum and really good bo luo bao. We made it to the airport just in time to catch the very delayed flight.
But then, we waited at the gate for a while, boarded the plane and waited some more. It took forever for the plane to back up. We drove out to the runway, waited some more. Turned to make our takeoff roll…. and stopped. The aircraft drove to the very edge of PVG and stopped and parked. We waited another 30 minutes or so and buses and police cars showed up. We all got off the plane and onto the waiting bus to drive back to the terminal. After being handed a hand-written “Transit Boarding Pass” we went back through—a very thorough—security check once more.
After another hour or so, we were given meal vouchers to use in the terminal. And after another hour, the flight was officially cancelled, we were put back through immigration (and our exit of China “Cancelled”) and on to buses to go to a hotel. The next morning, we got back onto the bus and went back to the airport for an uneventful flight to Vancouver. After a quick transit in Canada, we were back at LAX.
