by Amanda Bögli
The last day of the Onsite trip in China started with a tasty breakfast at our beautiful Marriott hotel in the center of the impressive metropolis of Shanghai. After that, the whole delegation checked out and went to explore this living city! It was the first day on which the group had no official program for the day and the delegation was looking forward to take this occasion and walk through the city individually. The majority of the students went to the fake market to get an insight of what kind of products they are offering there and to learn more about the detailed differences to the original brands. Some of them even stroke it rich and bought a typically Swiss watch from a luxury brand, which they would never have bought in Switzerland due to the prohibitive price differences… Together with my PR colleague, I was staying at the lobby to finish the final posts on our online channels. As soon as we finished our work, we took our handbags and our last Yuan and went to the fake market and the Nanjing Road to do some shopping. After spending three hours in the city we went back to our hotel, grabbed our luggages and went for the final delegation dinner in a fancy restaurant close to the Bund.
After that, we headed to Shanghai Pudong International Airport to take the flight back to Switzerland. While boarding at 1.3o AM my friend and I got the unexpected news from Air China, that one of our luggages will not fly to Switzerland. Supposedly due to a not executed security check by the carrier. With the utmost probability the airline employee at the Check-In counter was not capable to check in our luggage in the right way (including the transfer in Milan). That is to say that we even had someone else’s luggage tag on our flight tickets, who actually none of us knew. So while being seated on this 12 hours flight from Shanghai to Milan we did not know if it concerned the luggage of my friend or mine. After arrival in Milan we went straight to an information desk to make inquiries. There, we have been ensured that the transfer has been registered in China and that the luggage will be sent to Zurich. Unfortunately, this was not true.
Arrived at the baggage claim area at Zurich Airport we realized that there was a total of two luggages missing and a Swissport employee tracked the missing luggages. There we have been told that one luggage may still be in Milan or in Rome and the other may still be in Shanghai registered under a false name. Anyway… We are optimists and currently still struggling with Air China and hoping that the missing luggage will be found very soon!
The delegation enjoying the last night in China with a beautiful terrace view on the Bund
Being impressed by the generous choice of the various sneakers at the fake market
The PR Team having an amusing time before taking off to Switzerland
Marveling the amazing view over the Swiss Alps in our short-haul flight from Milan to Zurich
