By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
My name is Daniel Arbartavicius and I have a small office in Sao Paulo, where I keep my company when I received a very strange email asking if we could build some metallic structures. To my surprise, the person responded by giving more details on the construction of the item. I was sure I would need to go to China. He sent me a letter of introduction to take to the Chinese consulate in order to get the visa. I would travel from São Paulo to Beijing and another flight to Zhengzhou in Henan province. As soon as I arrived at Zhengzhou Airport, I didn't find Mr. Zhao waiting for me. I kept looking for him and while looking for his cell phone, I was approached by two policemen. The guards proposed to take me to a hotel and, the next day, go in search of Mr Zhao at the address indicated. I spent the night in that huge hotel and the next day I took a taxi to move to a more central one. I got one. I was able to use the internet on mine when informing Mr. Zhao where I would be staying and, if there was a problem, where he could find me. The next day would be the time to talk about business. When disembarking from the taxi, there was a very old building that matched the number noted ... Very strange. Upon entering the lobby the building had no people walking around. The elevator was lined with wooden sheets like those used in construction. When it disembarked, it got worse ... A long corridor, totally dark, except for one of the last rooms lit by weak natural light that passed through the window. We walked towards that room in deafening silence. A gentleman came out and started talking loudly to me and started making gestures for me to enter the room and sit down. It was clearly buying time. I felt so uncomfortable that I said goodbye abruptly and left. It was not possible ... Everything was going wrong. I needed to make contact with the person who had taken me there ... On the other side of the world. I noticed my cell phone was missing .... Okay ... I had left it in the taxi. I informed the Brazilian consulate in Chaoyang district, Beijing district, who advised me to leave the hotel immediately and return to the capital. Leaving Zhongzhou, I felt safer, but when I disembarked at night and still had no hotel booked, I was an easy target for a “facilitator” who extorted me another good amount. It was to enjoy those last moments in the best way so I took a taxi towards the center where I visited a very old Taoist temple, the Dongyue temple, located in the center of the city. He followed an architecture that seemed to emerge from Chinese epic films, with a large central square and small rooms that surrounded him, inside each room, statues of centuries-old deities.. Even though the Beijing Olympics were 7 years earlier, the state of conservation made it look like it was yesterday. The architecture of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube is beautiful. I entered the Bird's Nest paying the admission fee. It was a very emotional load. The other day I got up early and went to the forbidden city which is in front of Tiananmen Square, the seat of the Chinese government where I watched the flag flying. Behind Forbiden City, there was another park with a mountain, Jingshan and Beihai park, with smaller mountains and walks between lakes. I still climbed an elevation again of endless staircases that connected between small temples with Taoist deities. At the top, a white, pointed building was known as the White Pagoda. I decided to return to the Ibis, where I had left my suitcases and go to the airport. I had gone to China, survived a coup where I still wonder about the intentions of the person who invited me. I came back .... I finally came back. In the following weeks I met with my clients and told them everything.