No one of the three members of our family can drive though most of American states accept China’s driving licenses. Then we only could choose public traffic vehicles though this is a nation on wheels. I consulted to a classmate in US: If we didn’t follow a tourist group or conduct a self-driving traveling, would it be possible to travel in US? He answered it could be possible in cities, but it couldn’t work if going to those places like Yellow Stone, Grand Canyon etc. Coincidentally our touring purpose this time was not natural scenery, but the city scenery and history. We flied from Beijing of China to New York of US. Originally we planned flying to western coast and coming back from eastern coast, or conversely, thus, which was a flight of one-way ticket booking. Single ticket of international flights was much more expensive than return ticket. Thinking of the factor of expense, we chose the return ticket finally. We just confirmed the cities (New York, Philadelphia, New Haven, Washington) in the eastern coast that we planned to visit before we went to New York, but didn’t determined to take what kind of vehicles to these cities. Traveling itself is an experience, a practical experience whatever it is good or bad. During the traveling, we used all kinds of public traffic vehicles in the United States, including airplane, fast train, slow train, long-distance bus, city subway, free bus which exists in Boston and New Haven. We didn’t take the free bus of Boston. (The routes on the map look pretty long, and many, marked in silver color) The free bus of New Haven is from railway station to Yale, origin station and terminal only.

New York has a well-developed metro system which can send you wherever you want to go in the city. New York’s subway is in motion of 24 hours. Just the platform at night is not the same one in the daylight. If contrast with the domestic subway in China, the domestic subway at on station probably only have one route in the use, while American subway looks more like China’s railway. There are different routes in the motion at one station. But the platform only has two directions. So you have to confirm the subway number before you get on. The other thing you have to specially notice is that you must have the right direction. Manhattan is the center of New York. On the Manhattan Island, it’d be ok as long as you can differentiate the uptown and downtown. The streets on Manhattan Island are mostly coded with numbers. It is uptown if the sequence of street numbers tends to the bigger. It is downtown if the sequence of street numbers inclines to the smaller. If you want to go to Manhattan somewhere else, the direction is just “To Manhattan”. Every subway service window has a map. Every subway is basically an overall picture of New York which is much better than the ones provided by many hotels.

 The New York’s subway has single ticket and 7-day ticket, Number ticket and month ticket. The single ticket by New York’s subway costs $2.75. The ticket machine give the change by US$8 at most, which means if you use a $10 to buy a single ticket, the machine will give you nothing back. Children ticket and old-age ticket is cheaper. 7-day and number tickets are only sold at service windows. Number ticket would need to take 1 dollar of flat cost. If you take the subway late at night, you’ve got to notice the reminding of platform. Night subway and daytime subway are not in a same station.

We took the airplane of United Airlines from New York to Los Angels. We were afraid to drop the baggage, so we specially took a big box in which there was also some extra space besides all the stuff of us three. Thus we could pack some other things if we want to buy when coming back. Though that box is not very big, it definitely could be taken onto the airplane. It needs to cost to check baggage in American domestic airlines. If each article of baggage doesn’t exceed 50 pounds, it costs US$25 (Probably less than that by a few pounds. Ours weights 42 pounds. We specially asked about it because we didn’t know such a rule. But Americans talked too fast, we didn’t learn very clear about the exact figure. All in all, our baggage was close to the division with only several pounds to spare). If it exceeds, it costs US$100 per piece however it weights. So, for the travelers, if you want to take the airplane in US, try your utmost to take the baggage which is suitable for boarding (The maximum dimensions is 21 inches. You can take one two more if you can take by yourself. We saw someone took several when taking airplane)

The security inspection of taking an airplane in New York is strict. All the Adults have to take off the shoes to pass a X-ray machine for whole body. (Internal airlines are even stricter. You have to take off the belt as well.) You have to raise your hands, and turn in the machine. You’d better have nothing in your pockets (Whatever material it is). Otherwise, you’d be asked to take it out. If there’s an exception, it is kids. When my son went to US, he was under fifteen. The inspection official for Los Angels airline only talked about the dos and don’ts with him alone after checking his passport. (If you take a laptop, you should take it out, and put into box.) Then he gave him a PASS, telling him to give it to the people before him. He could walk forward with shoes, or without shoes. My son’s explanation for this preferential treatment was the inspector considered he looked kind. But, when coming back, after the inspector asked him about his age, he didn’t gave him the preferential treatment this time. (My son’s explanation was, probably such a treatment was only provided for the people under 14, or 12.) When we changed the boarding pass in New York, we talked with the employee that we wanted to sit together. She gave us a blank pass, having us to tell another employee at boarding entrance. When we got there, the employee hadn’t arrived yet. We went to change as soon as the employee arrived. She just gave us a pass by writing down the seats for us together casually. But the security inspection of Los Angels is not that strict as New York. When proceeding to the security inspection in Los Angels, just taking off your shoes, and walk across the safety-check entrance would be alright. But, compared with the domestic security inspection, America also has some not-strict measures. In China, IPAD, SLR camera body, lens need to be taken out, and packed individually into boxes while in America it is not required. It just require you that laptop has to be put into box.

 We always took Mega bus from Washington to Boston. And from Boston to New York, Washington’s Mega bus was said to be at Union Station, but it’s actually at one layer of parking structure near to Union Station. No independent waiting room naturally means no toilet and seating room. You even couldn’t find the station board if you didn’t look through all the markings. Mega bus was in double-decker with restroom. And it also had WIFI. The connecting speed is a bit slow, but better than nothing. The cold air runs fiercely so that it was only 60 degree Fahrenheit approximately. You’d better take a blanket if sitting there for a long time. We three are dressed in short-sleeved shirt, trembling with cold. Those people in long-sleeved were also shrunk. When we were resting in service area, after I had run for tens of minutes out of the bus, and we three shared a cup of hot coco, I felt a bit better. Luckily even though we experienced the blow-hot-and-cold-in-return challenge, we were all still healthy. Boston’s long-distance bus station is next to its railway station which has an independent waiting room. But you still have to confirm with those who are queuing up for vehicles when and where of the buses they are waiting for. The departure time of the bus for us to New York is at 4:30. We asked a woman. She said she was waiting for the bus at 4:00, But it was 4:30 already at that time. Some of the others said they were waiting for the 4:30 bus. We then asked whether or not it had been behind the schedule. There are no workers in the station. After a while, an employee walked out and said something, but we couldn’t hear clearly, just saw the people ahead of us gradually walked away. When we approached, the employee advised the people for the 4:30 bus to New York to step forward. After we walked through the ticked inspection entrance, we saw a coach, and asked whether it was going to New York. The driver gave a definite answer. Then we got on it. We couldn’t bargain even though we were going to be sold because we were rushing the time. This bus only had one deck, no WIFI, but has a resting room. The condition was much worse, couldn’t flush. But luckily there was no smell. Finally it stopped at the 18th street, not far from Penn Station in New York. Almost came cross Manhattan from north to south. The price of taking a bus was much cheaper than taking a train. From Washington to Boston, it only took us three more than US $100. It was said that the original price was collected from US$1 per piece if ordering the ticked early enough. But there are often traffic jams on American highways, you can’t take the bus if you rush time.

Let’s talk about the taxi in the end. We took the taxies in New York, Washington and Philadelphia. New York is a big city which has a variety of taxies. It is divided into Queen District and Manhattan. I don’t know if there is any difference between the charges. My feeling is subway is a better choice if you go far (economical and EAT has a guarantee)

There are rush hours and non-rush hours for New York’s taxis. During rush hours, it costs extra US$1 per mile. Plus the traffic jam, the fare might cost more than what you estimated by 50-60 percent. It’s been close to 4 p.m. when we got on the taxi in New York. We didn’t decide to take a taxi before listening to a Chinese’s proposal. He said it just took US$30 approx. if taking a taxi. It would cost about US$20 if take an air train of subway. Due to the rush hours, the price was close to US$50 when arrived at the destination. Washington and Philadelphia are comparatively smaller. It takes you more than ten dollars, even ten dollars for the taxis to take you anywhere you want to go. It has to be emphasized that taking a taxi costs tips. For some casual people, how much you give would be OK. But for other Spanish speakers who were fussed on it, they would complain. The taxi fare, plus tax, has round and change numbers. Generally you should give them a round number without change, or you gave them one two dollars additionally when they gave you the change.

I watched for a while. There were two types of taxi drivers in US. One was for living; the other is for relaxing and the subsidies of housekeeping money both. The first type is black people, or Americans of Latin descent. Compared with black men, Latin-descent Americans are tricky. Though we’d stayed in US shortly, you could trust what black people said was just what they understood. But, for Latin-descent Americans, you only could take their words for the reference, and decided before you confirm it. It feels Washington’s taxi drivers are more talkative. (Just like Beijing’s taxi drivers like talking wit passengers) One of them came from Zambia to America at 70s of last century. He was speaking a kind of language we couldn’t understand on the interphone. We asked where he was originally from. He said he was from Zambia. Then we asked whether he was speaking the tribe language. He said it was Zambia mandarin, and there were tens of tribes in Zambia with tens of tribe languages. Due to present condition of Zambia, we didn’t ask him about his view to America.

When we started from Washington, there was coincidentally a taxi came to the restaurant. We put the cases into the trunk before the guests got off the taxi. Judged through the window, it was an Indian. He pointed to his watch, indicating he was going to be off the duty. So we had to take the cases out and waited for the next one. After a while, came another taxi which looked just like the typical, spacious American cars in movies. To our astonishment the driver was a white man. We asked him in advance whether he went to railway station or not. We put the cases into the trunk before he gave a definite YES. Then we chatted after getting on the car. He asked us where we were from. We said we were from China. He went on to ask if it is China Mainland. We felt strange that he learned China a lot. We said YES. He said in his eyes Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Laotians and Kampucheans are all Chinese. Because they have same skins, same names like Chinese. When it came to Chinese dishes, he said the dishes of Chinatown were delicious with favorable prices. US$10 or so is an ideal cost performance.

Later we again asked where he originally came from. He said he moved from Iran to America in Iranian kingdom age. After the graduation from college, he became a librarian, and then changed to another college to be a librarian. At last he retired because he was not dissatisfied with the job. Now he was a taxi driver, working for 4-5 hours per day. We said the commodity prices of Washington were high. He said he lived in Virginia where the prices were lower than Washington. We asked him whether he believed in Muslim. He said Yes, but he didn’t go to church. We then asked whether he went back to Iran. He said he did once several years ago. It’d gotten worse compared with kingdom age. Someone told him not to speak freely as soon as he got off the airplane. Veils were seen everywhere. Commodity prices were terribly high, much higher than America. I said at least Iranians could elect the president. He said that kind of election was involuntary and manipulated. We then asked how about America. He said in America, everything was all about money, family bond, friendship as well. He said America was suitable for traveling, not for immigration because guns run everywhere. You wouldn’t feel safe with this. We thought even though you complained about US so much, he wouldn’t come back Iran again. When getting off the car, we gave him a tip of US$2. He happily said thanks.

Despite whichever country people stay and what kind of race or faith, he will always has complaint to the land he loves, and lives. The complaint and dissatisfaction are the motive forces of changing while he is still there to have that land develop better. But once he left due to those complaint and dissatisfaction which is truly the defect of that place.

This is the story and experience about American vehicles and people we’ve had. With the economic development, the vehicles are also more and more prevalent in China, followed with more talking subjects about vehicles in promotions, parties, celebrations, holidays. We also just have a variety of vehicle paper clips in our collection which could be great accompaniments and decorative accessories for your different daily use either it is for paperwork, or promotions for various events. These shaped paper clips would be a perfect option. Also they can be made into custom paper clips with different shapes, sizes and optional colors.