A trolley from China (Luggage in general)

Member Name: WHISTLINGTOADS

Product:	Luggage in general
Date:	02/08/01 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap and cheerful, but sturdy case, for international travel

Disadvantages: Baggage handlers, sometimes break, the stands and wheels

A recent trip to China involved so many stopovers and changes of hotel that my favourite Antler Trolley case had its stand smashed by over-zealous baggage handlers. With a week to go there was no way I could buy another Antler case from the airports at over ten times the cost in the UK. The poor bag fell over and dropped off the luggage racks at every opportunity and so I was desperate by the time we reached Wuhan to get a replacement at a sensible price.

With a one day stopover in Wuhan we didn't have much time; this is a city on the edge of the Yangtse river, noted for its fairly flat plains and regular river traffic. We had no idea what the shopping scene would be like.

Intrepidly we set off at 9am in a local taxi organised by our Chinese speaking concierge. Death race 2000 was tame by the standards of driving in Wuhan; if two taxis are aiming for the same area of tunnel, neither will give way until the wing mirrors are locked !

We arrived outside an impressive high rise shopping mall, heavily staffed but with a hint of modern commerce. Travelling up the nine excalators to the top revealed a shoppers paradise of electrical goods, clothes, furniture, bags and cases by some of the more famous manufacturers and some I have never heard of. Certainly no shortage of cases we thought as we looked at rows upon rows of Burberry, Antler, and other brands. The trouble was that the official tourist prices for the cheapest trolley were £60-70. Too pricey for me and almost 10 times the price in the UK.

So we walked a little further downtown towards the bus station and a row of shops that looked like garages with shutter doors. Inside each of these tiny enterprises was a surprising wealth of goods at very affordable prices. Trouble was, the locals had probably seen very few Westerners and not many blondes with blue eyes so they wanted us to go into their shops to be photographed with the owners ! A very pleasant if time consuming exercis
e - my fifteen minutes of fame at last..

At last we found a suitcase shop and although we don't speak Chinese, and the owners spoke no English, we bartered by sign language and the trusty electronic calculator display util we had secured a Chinese-made solid walled trolley case for the princely sum of £8.00. It's never going to compete on style and good looks with my Antler luggage but it carried all my possessions safely along the Yangtse river, and on a fourteen hour flight home without any trouble.

I've decided not to replace the Antler trolley until next summer when I will need a good holiday case, but in the meantime, my Chinese trolley seems to be holding up to travel round the region in my job with the occasional hotel stay. My biggest concern with all future trolley purchases will be to check the construction of the wheels and resting stand.... this is the second trolley in 4 years that has had its undercarriage destroyed by overseas airport baggage handlers.

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