Travel Account #2 (#1 still to come): Commencement of Trek

First of all, in China during the New Year, especially if you don't speak great Chinese, and then if you have blond curly hair and are traveling with a partner who looks significantly unlike you, and especially if you are traveling to places outside the big cities and not normally on the tourist agenda, you can't just arrive somewhere.  You can't just go from one place to another and expect to arrive at your destination unscathed. 
So when I say we began our journey in Beijing, what I really mean is: I spent weeks ahead of time thinking of everything we might need to bring with us, buying supplies, packing, cleaning the apartment, etc; then the day before we left we went to the new high-speed Zhuhai-Guangzhou train station and bought tickets.  This was challenging as the station was very busy and we did not understand the distinction between the 40, 50, and 60 yuan tickets; the next morning, me and Cheikh disagreed over what time we needed to leave the apartment in order to make it to the train station on time. He never understands the amount of time necessary to get to places and as a result we are ALWAYS running with luggage trying to catch our bus or train or whatever.  So naturally we didn't leave enough time, hurried to the bus station, hopped on a bus, rode it for a while until we decided we really needed to get out and get a taxi cuz we were cutting it close, hopped out and into a taxi which charged us three times the normal price because it was the first day of Chinese New Year, ran to our platform, and caught the train with about 30 seconds to spare.  All this didn't bother us though because we were happy and excited; when we got to Guangzhou, we followed the signs to the metro and waited in line for 30 MINUTES to get a metro ticket to the airport - that's how many people were in the station - and took a really long ride to the airport; when we got there, we disagree about how to find our check-in counter despite the fact that I have been to that airport and can read the signs in English. He knows I always know what I'm doing but doesn't want to feel like I am always in charge, you know; we find our counter, check in, realize the Chinese hiking bag he was using was already about to fall apart; get on our plane; when we arrive at the Beijing airport, we know the address and metro stop of the hostel we had booked but are not sure how to get there; ask around until we find the shuttle bus that stops nearby; can't get a straight answer out of the driver about which stop to get off the bus; anger the other passengers as we try to discuss with the driver if this is indeed the correct stop; get off and get a taxi to our hostel; make it to the hostel, at which point C starts complaining about our shitty room with the shared bathroom; I remind him that he told me we should stay in the cheapest possible places in order to save our money so we can travel as long as possible; we have a little argument but get over it quickly and settle in.  Now we have arrived in Beijing.  I won't do that for every transit journey, but that was an example - and that was just the first, and between two major cities via plane!!