More Worldcon Travel Plans

[kevin_standlee]

The number of things I need to transport with me to Chengdu keeps growing. It's getting to the point where I am seriously considering taking two checked bags, even thought that will cost me a bunch extra in luggage charges. On the other hand, I won't need to take as many clothes as I typically do, because all I'm doing is flying to Chengdu, attending the Worldcon, and flying back. In fact, due to the fact that the return flight leaves at 8 AM on the morning after the convention ends and the airport appears to be almost 80 km (straight line) from the hotel/convention center, I'll have to skip the final post-closing-ceremony part of the convention (which is often one of my favorite parts of the event) and head out to TFU airport on Sunday evening to stay at a Holiday Inn Express near the airport.

That of course assumes that I've actually identified the hotel in which the convention has booked me and the convention site itself. For all of the pretty pictures on the Chengdu website, I've had a bit of a challenge trying to figure out where in the Chengdu area the convention is actually happening! I think it may be where this map shows a lake with what looks like a building site on one shore. If there is something on the Chengdu Worldcon website that gives actual directions to the convention site, I haven't found it yet. Considering that for about as how long as the technology has existed to do so, it has been my practice to "virtually walk" the area around a Worldcon using Google Maps, not being able to do so this year is yet another thing that makes me nervous.

Comments

[msconduct]

The lack of information even on the official site a few days before the con is a little alarming.

[kevin_standlee]

I assume they just assume that anyone coming already knows how to get there. I expect it is possible that Chinese-language mapping tools are more up to date.

This does remind me of a couple of people who were coming to ConFrancisco, the 1993 Worldcon at the Moscone Convention Center in downtown San Francisco. Despite us having published highly detailed directions for getting to the site from the three major Bay Area airports (and by train, and by driving), they turned up at the Mailboxes Etc. store where our mail drop was. That was not even in San Francisco. I never learned how they decided that our mailing address was the site of the convention.

[msconduct]

Good heavens, that's impressively dense! Re Chengdu, I was also a bit concerned that they haven't even posted their programme. My guess is that they haven't prioritised their English language stuff. I'll be interested to hear what the SF museum is like as the building is lovely. I've only passed through Chengdu airport on the way to the pandas, and at that time (2008) there were hardly any cars on the road anywhere, so I can't give you any advice about travel times other than I bet they're long.

[kevin_standlee]

Chengdu published their program schedule today.

[madfilkentist]

Do you know anything about the "lottery" reported on File 770 for attending the Hugo, opening, and closing ceremonies? Do you automatically get into all of them for coming more than 3000 KM?

[kevin_standlee]

I assume that they will let me into the Business Meeting because I'm one of its officers. (In Helsinki, the door guards didn't want to let me into a certain room with a long queue, but relented when I pointed out that I was one of the panelists.) As far as major events go, I expect that I'll be able to attend if I want to do so. But due to my luggage space crunch and my uncertainty about how it would be received, I'm not packing my WSFS captain's uniform.

Honestly, the primary reason I'm going is to keep the wheels of WSFS turning for one more year under somewhat trying circumstances. Anything else is gravy.

[calimac]

Oh yes, the lake that disappears and is replaced with roads running through where it was, when you switch from satellite view to map view. I remember that from when you first brought it up months ago. Yeah, that gives so much confidence. And the con site doesn't even clearly identify the hotel? You're traveling to China and you don't even know where you're going?

[kevin_standlee]

They gave us the name of the hotel where they arranged a booking. However, there are multiple Sheratons in Chengdu, none of which turn up exactly when I put the name of the hotel they gave us into Google. There are, however, two different Sheratons that show up near the site of that artificial lake. The satellite view doesn't show buildings on the two sites.

If you look at Chengdu's website section on hotels, you get a list of hotels that are 4-8 km away from that lake, none of which are named Sheraton.

It's very puzzling. I'm hoping to get a bit more information in the next few days, and putting the issue down to translation issues. I hope to have enough information to show a taxi driver the hotel to which I want to go. It looks like it could be on the order of 100 km by road, somewhat like flying to San Jose airport to get to Moscone Center.

[lindadee]

Check out the app Rome2Rio. It's the ROTW's Google Maps. The hotel will show up on that.

Also, Joe Yao wrote on File 770: "[The lottery] pertains specifically to those Chinese members who have purchased the physical attending admissions. Considering the substantial number of participants, to ensure smooth entry for the Opening, Closing, and the Hugo Award ceremonies, we have to conduct a draw in advance. This replaces the previous model of early queuing, deciding who can attend these ceremonies rather than having them wait in a futile queue to enter the ceremony hall (since this model could potentially cause on-site chaos). The draw will be conducted on WeChat, which is why we ask our Chinese members to sign up for it in advance. As for the overseas members, just like you mentioned in the post, we have previously launched an Incentive Project for attendees traveling over 3,000 kilometers (a condition that the vast majority of overseas members meet), ensuring their entry to the aforementioned ceremonies. They merely need to make an appearance at the convention to receive their pass and partake in all the events.”

[kevin_standlee]

I've been using Rome2Rio. But "Chengdu Tianfu Hengbang Sheraton," which is the name of the hotel that we were told we had our booking, does not resolve in that application, and I can certainly see how some people are being misled into thinking it's the Sheraton Four Points Tianfu, some 50 km across the city. From other correspondence, I think they mean "SHERATON CHENGDU PIDU, No. 560 Huashi West Street, Pidu District, Chengdu, Sichuan," which is the Sheraton near that lake. Assuming that to be the case, R2R suggests this route via transit (3 metro lines plus a short light rail/tram ride); however, for two or more people, especially with luggage, paying for a taxi for the up to 100 km trip from TFU airport might be a better idea.

[lindadee]

Yes. I'm told SHERATON CHENGDU PIDU is the convention's hotel.

[scott_sanford]

That's not quite as bad as finding a hotel named Davenport in Spokane, but it's not good...

[kevin_standlee]

I assume those disappearing roads are what was there before they started building the lake. There's been so much new construction since the last time these maps were updated that it's difficult to figure out anything.