This is a ream of paper being used as a booster seat on one of the chairs in the Ürümqi airport sales desk. 差不多, as the Chinese say. “Close enough.”
I was here to buy an upgrade for my return ticket to Xi’an because I did not want to suffer in economy again.
I brought all of my Mandarin to bear. I explained I was too tall. I explained I was willing to pay any price. I explained it was the first leg of a two plane trip back to Shanghai, but the second leg was already First Class. I explained Business or First Class didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t Economy Class again. But communication broke down. I wasn’t able to understand what they were trying to tell me. I waited five or ten minutes until they could get an English speaking representative on the phone.
The ticket was already First Class.
Apparently, only the to ticket from Xi’an to Ürümqi was Economy. The other tickets were all First Class. (I’m sure that’s why I didn’t notice the mistake in the first place.)
I finally understand what was going on when the woman said in English, “There is no higher class for this flight!” I had been arguing in poor Chinese for half an hour to upgrade my First Class ticket to First Class.
I am an idiot.