Chaos at Dalian Airport: A Journey to Survival

The Beginning of Chaos - A Long Night at Dalian Airport

 Traveling in China is always an unpredictable adventure, especially when you’re unprepared. My journey from Seoul to Suzhou began with a layover at Dalian Airport, where I faced my first major challenges: language barriers and a lack of information. I didn’t speak a word of Chinese, my phone battery was dying, and all I had in my pocket was 280 yuan.
 Initially, my plan was simple. I would spend the night at an airport lounge and catch a flight or train to Suzhou the next morning. But reality rarely goes as planned.

The Lounge Was Closed, and the Cold Began

 At 6:30 PM, I cleared passport control and collected my luggage. By 6:50 PM, I was wandering around the airport in search of a lounge where I could rest. To my dismay, every lounge was already closed for the night. Left with no other option, I found myself stuck on the freezing ground floor of Dalian Airport.
 Dalian’s winter nights were colder than I had imagined. Despite being indoors, the chill seeped through every corner of the airport. Desperate for warmth, I climbed to the fourth floor, but security guards patrolling the area forced me back down. Out of the airport’s four floors, three were closed. Ultimately, I had no choice but to return to the first floor.
 The first floor was filled with strangers who looked just as lost as I felt. Some people were lying on benches under blankets; others sat on the floor staring at their phones. I sat among them, feeling increasingly isolated. The unfamiliar sounds of Chinese filled the air, but to me, they were nothing more than noise. A sense of loneliness began to creep in.

When My Phone Died, Despair Took Over

 Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much my survival depended on my phone. Then it happened—my phone died completely. Not just a restart or a low battery warning—it shut down entirely.
 At first, I tried to stay calm. “It’s fine; it’ll turn back on,” I told myself. But as time passed, panic began to set in. Without my phone, I couldn’t check train schedules or ask for help. I was completely cut off from any lifeline.
Desperately pressing the power button over and over again felt like clinging to hope itself. After what felt like an eternity—10 attempts, 20 attempts—the screen finally lit up! But relief was short-lived; within minutes, it went dark again.
 During those fleeting moments when my phone came back to life, I scrambled to open WhatsApp and check messages—18 unread messages awaited me! Frantically scrolling through chats and screenshots, I copied down Chinese characters for train stations onto scraps of paper before the screen went dark again.
 This cycle repeated itself throughout the night: waiting for my phone to turn on, gathering as much information as possible in those precious seconds, and then waiting again. It felt like a survival game where every second mattered.

Surviving the First Night Amid Chaos

 That first night dragged on endlessly. Time seemed to stretch as if it were mocking me. By morning, I was utterly exhausted but determined not to give up. That long night at Dalian Airport taught me something invaluable: how to survive even when everything feels like it’s falling apart.
 This experience wasn’t just about discomfort—it was a wake-up call about how dependent I had become on technology and connection while also showing me that hope can persist even in moments of despair.