Chinese Ingenuity - Part I

My parents' company had a large shipment of merchandise that was coming into China from the US by air. It was being taken care of by a shipping company and it was suppose to go directly into the interior of China, to Sichuan province.

The delivery was taking longer than expected so they decided to track the shipment. The shipping company indicated that the cargo was being sent by air through China Eastern Airlines. It had a legitimate air tracking number, upon more detailed detective work, they found out to their dismay that the cargo arrived by AIR into Shanghai and then was put on a truck by China Eastern Airline where it made the two day ground journey to Sichuan. Luckily the merchandise made it safely and cleared custom in Sichuan province.

Only in China would you send something by AIR and they would tell you it's by AIR, only to find out later it was put on a truck to complete its journey. (although to their credit, it was an "AIR"line truck)

The only upside is that it was a bit cheaper. (And that it DID arrive!)

I guess the lesson is that you never know what you are gonna get in China, it's full of surprises and "ingenuities".