A (Minor) Celebrity Welcome in Shenzhen: Or why you should look presentable when traveling

Having quit my reality tv job in June, the next step for me is a 3-week gig in Shenzhen, China.

Shenzhen is days away from hosting the 26th Summer Universiade  – like the Olympics, but for university sports (“Universiade” itself being a combination of “Olympiad” and “University”). I will be working for AIPS (the International Sports Press Association) as a staffer on their inaugural Young Reporters Program.

Like most people I’ve spoken to, I had never heard of the Universiade Games before getting this gig. But a chance to work with and learn from the big players in sports journalism and international sporting events, some of whom could even help me get to London 2012 – you have to be a self-hating lunatic to pass on an opportunity like that.

So Wednesday night, I hopped on an 8 PM flight to Shenzhen.

I looked like crap.

For one, I was flying a budget airline, which automatically reduces your need to care about superfluous hygiene. When you’re already skimping on flight costs, you may as well just follow through and look like you can’t afford anything above Tiger or AirAsia.

For another, I’d spent the entire day walking around Singapore. Serious walking. My girlfriend Kelly, my partner-in-crime in Dalian and Shanghai, came to Singapore on a visa run from her new job in Indonesia. This was the first time we’d seen each other in two years, and we spent nine hours talking and walking, nonstop.

Singapore is hot. I was sweaty. Kelly’s flight back to Jakarta was the same time as my flight to Shenzhen, so naturally we traveled to the airport together, which left me no time to shower or even change my clothes. Yes I was dirty, but see point 1.

So here I am, a hot mess at the back of the Tiger Airways plane, landing at Shenzhen Airport at nearly midnight. Out the window I see a small crowd of photographers – I figure, this is a sports event, there must be an athlete on board that they’re waiting on to disembark.

I step off the plane, see a sign with my name on it. Still, I think, no big deal.

I go over to the tiny woman with the “EDNA ZHOU” sign, shake her hand – and suddenly, the sleepy crowd of photographers and videographers explode into action.

Turns out, they were waiting for me.

As the first member of the accredited media to land (basically, first journalist to arrive), they wanted to provide a special welcome party. The party continued from beginning to end, without stop – they insisted I sit at the front of the bus from the plane to the terminal. They gave me a special welcome gift (a business card holder), and had a dedicated immigration line, with a customs officer waiting patiently just for me and my passport.

I slightly felt bad for them all — I’m not a “real” journalist (yet), and I’m not a newbie to China.

I’m sure what they were really hoping for was some middle-aged white European dude, looking slightly dazed and confused, NOT wearing a tank top and shorts, who, upon experiencing this gracious arrival in Shenzhen, would then write home about how wonderful their experience in China was from minute one.

Well, at least I did the latter. I managed to publish a (much more professional) piece on my arrival on the AIPS website – Warm welcome for first journalist to arrive in Shenzhen.

So they weren’t completely wrong — I’m on my way to becoming a professional journalist.

And next time I fly, I’ll make sure to wear pants.