Too Damn Honest

Shanhaiguan, China

There was a slight mix-up with tickets today. Well, technically it wasn't so much a mix-up of tickets as of places. I blame the Lonely Planet but it does make clear the importance of checking the map of where you're going. I was going to Shanhaiguan. In the book the description of how to get there is in the same section as the one to Beidaihe, a different town in the area. So, I assumed they must be near each other. Both could also easily be reached from a hub called Qinhuangdao but it sounded like the bus first stopped in Beidaihe and then in Shanhaiguan. Since Shanhaiguan is not often serviced by trains from Beijing I just bought a ticket to Beidaihe and planned to take a bus from there.
The revelation came on the train while talking to another passenger. He was confused that I was going to Beidaihe. I told him: to take the bus to Shanhaiguan. He asked me why I didn't go straight to Qinhuangdao and take the bus there. Because Beidaihe is closer, no? No, it isn't. In the end he showed me on my own map. He was right, of course. Curses. Never mind, he said, just stay on the train. It would stop in Qinhuangdao next. Then how about my ticket? In China they check tickets at every station when you go out. Don't worry, he told me, you're a foreigner. When they stop you just pretend you don't speak Chinese and they will give up and let you go (we were having the conversation in Chinese). He laughed. That's China.
When we reached Qinhuangdao I did what he had told me. Of course, they stopped me. I tried to stare blankly. And just when they were about to wave me through, just as the man had said, I couldn't stop myself and asked them what was wrong. Then, of course, I got politely shown to their little office where I had to explain my mistake and pay 35 RMB for a ticket from Beidaihe to there.
Sometimes I do hate my honest self.