In North American airports, there are warnings posted above the luggage carousels: “Please don’t step on the conveyor belt.” These signs are often missing when you travel internationally, and I recently discovered why.
Two years ago, I was in China with a friend who is a professor at the University of Texas medical school, and a group of his students. We had traveled from the old capital of Xian, westward through the oasis towns and deserts of central China, ending up in the 2,000-year-old Uighur city of Kashgar, near the Afghanistan border.
At a sprawling bazaar known locally as the Camel Market, I picked up several small handmade Uighur knives as gifts. Instead of packing them into my checked-in luggage, I slipped them into my carry-on bag by mistake.
We flew out of Kashgar the next day from an incongruously modern airport recently built to open up this very remote part of China to trade and tourism. Everything went fine until my carry-on bag passed through the X-ray machine.
A security screener opened my bag and removed the knives. Although he spoke no English, it was clear they were not allowed on the plane.
But instead of tossing my mementos in the trash, he handed them to me and pointed in the direction I had come, back toward the ticket counter. Interpreting this as a suggestion that I might be able to check the knives through, I returned to the ticket counter.
The ticket agent also spoke no English, but nodded knowingly as I held up the knives. Speaking in Uighur, he pointed to the empty luggage conveyor belt.
“Well,” I thought, “he’s trying to tell me that my bag has already gone and there’s nothing he can do.” I thanked him and turned to leave.
But he stopped me with a tap on the shoulder and again pointed to the conveyor belt. This time he made a more sweeping gesture from me to the conveyor belt.
Reluctantly, I stepped into the slot where bags are passed though the counter. No objection from the agent.
I walked over to the conveyor belt. Still no protests.
I climbed on to the carousel. The agent smiled and flipped a switch. The belt lurched forward.
I passed through the slit rubber curtain into a dark, cavernous space. My moving sidewalk looped and rumbled through the bowels of the airport. After a while, a faint light appeared, leading through another slit curtain that spilled into a baggage loading area.
The baggage handlers were not at all surprised to see a knife-wielding American emerge from the conveyor belt. They helped me find my bag and I repacked my knives.
Now the only question was: How do I get back to the terminal? No one spoke English, so there was no point asking for directions. Gestures didn’t do much good either.
Seeing no other way out, I turned around, pushed through the slit curtain, double-timed it back up the belt and burst through the top curtain into the check-in area.
The ticket agent was clearly expecting me, since other bags were stacked on the floor in front of the belt awaiting my return.
I bowed to him in thanks, not only for saving my Uighur knife collection, but also for surviving my behind-the-scenes tour of a Chinese airport.
Ron Robins is a retired attorney.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I am a Blonde Blue Eyed 72 year old Lady who is secondary screened everytime i travel out of Scotland & London Gatwick,& i travel this International Route Twice a year, my theory is that as i’m travelling on a US Passport that I am being targeted by the British just to Humiliate me ,since they never seem to pull over any passenger with a British Accent
That is an hypothesis, dear.
And we don’t mind the U.S. accent, but those of us with fine hearing can pick up on when you unnecessarily capitalise a letter and it narks us something proper.
Plus the floral print “ALLAHU AKBAR” blouse you were wearing last time didn’t help.
My mother is grey haired, blue eyed, English speaking, English and white. She is pulled over every single time she goes anywhere by plane – whether with us or when she was with my dad before he passed away last year.
Great article, by the way!
A friend of mine and myself had finish school in upstate NY and come home to Fl. After a two hour ride to Newark nj and a three hour flight. ( can you say road trip ) When waiting for our luggage we went looking for it the best we could think off. Our parents were so proud to watch ride by.
thats crazy!
That’s a really cool story about the Chinese airport! I mean I think that would be relatively fun to ride on one of those carousels! I mean not under the circumstances but like, just for fun. haha!
And you didn’t take a picture???
/sigh.
Great story.
That’s a pretty odd thing to do, I always wondered what happens behind the curtain; nothing it seems!
I claim bullshit on this… definitely not true
A picture would have been cool. But having googled your Uighur knifes I’m now partly enlighted.
even if its bullshit it was entertaining, and you calling it bullshit ruins a nice post
I don’t think you have a motive other than to try and make another person feel bad or make them mad, allowing me to conclude that you are not exactly a good person, and probably have lied just the same way the maker of the post did, if he did, which I seriously doubt
Anyway great post enjoyed it, but man would it be fun to ride those
My mother should be pulled over for being blonde in charge of a child;)
Jim, are you sure you finished school? If so the people in your county deserve a refund on their taxes.
Thanks for the great story. I too Googled the knives. Certainly interesting exquisite specimens. One can see why you would go to such great lengths and indeed why the airport officers are likely used to encountering the problem.
My dad is pulled in for extra checks everytime he goes to australia (about 5/6 times a year on buisness), he is portly and sweats alot, my guess is the aussies think he is some sort of drugs dealer/mule or something like that.
He has worked out how to stop it though, he tells the immigration officers not to put the extra “s” stamp on his immigration visa because that tells the security to give him the extra searches
I’ve been to China 4 times, visiting with my wife and daughter. The story sounds believable to me. My experiences in China have been very positive regarding the Chinese people. No one speaks any English but they love to communicate and help. The people have been the best part of my visits. The conveyor belt ride sounds about typical. The culture is so different and refreshing. I’ll be back later this year.