When in China...keep your umbrellas and electronics easy access as you go through security!

Ok, maybe nobody cares about this, but I just wanted to exclaim a bit about their airport security.

I used to think the shoes off policy was the most exasperating rule, but Beijing has one that's much more frustrating. On my way from Beijing to Shanghai, when I arrived here June 2, I was stopped at the security check and held up for about 5 minutes because I had an umbrella in my carry-on suitcase. It took me a bit to even realize they were referring to an umbrella, and then another while because it was stuck in my suitcase at the very bottom because I didn't even think that would be an issue. 

Also, any and all electronics (including cameras, cell phones, hard drives, etc) have to be removed from your carry-on and placed in a separate bin. I thought this wouldn't be a problem until I was stopped again on my way from Beijing to Changchun two weeks later because I forgot my camera was shoved in my bag. 

Another difference was that they have very little table space for prepping stuff to go through security. About one person at a time can start putting their carry-on through the security check, so I thought it would be incredibly inefficient. However, consistently, I am surprised by how quickly I go through the security check. I think the longest I've waited was about 5-7 minutes (at least on the domestic side). Maybe the shoe removal is the limiting factor? Or Chinese people have less stuff to take out of their bags? Or they are just remarkably fast about going through security though they can be ridiculously slow at several other things?

It's not limited to airport security. Though they are less vigilant, they also require every person getting on the subway to place their bags through security. I was continuously surprised by the lack of a bottleneck occurring at the entrance of a subway station. Likewise train stations also have remarkably fast baggage security checks. For the amount of people walking into train and subway stations at any one point in time, the efficiency of their process is pretty impressive. 

Ok, high speed rail next, cause that was AMAZING and I tried it the first time last week, and I need to rave (and then complain about the lack in the States)!