Navigating Beijing

I had to find my way from the lab to the airport today, by myself, without a cell phone, via:

1. a shuttle to the subway
2. a 50 minute subway ride
3. several circuitous crossbridges from the subway station to the bus ticket booth
4. the Beijing airport shuttle

A few mishaps occurred along the way, namely, I couldn't find the bus ticket booth. The only information I had to go on was "50 m east of the bridge," according to the Beijing airport shuttle website. What bridge? There were bridges all over the place. And since it was a cloudy day, no sun to light the way. I asked several people on the street, but no one seemed to know. After I wandered down a few different intersections, a hotel doorman told me that the bus passes by the street out front. As it turns out, the bus ticket booth is nothing but a little magazine kiosk on the side of the road with a not-at-all noticeable sign.

But fear not, I made it to the airport exactly 5 minutes before my mom walked out of baggage claim. SUCCESS!

and, to top it off, I gave step-by-step directions to the taxi driver to get home from the airport!