"Old Carl? What kind of mission is it today? Why do I feel like all the foreigners in Kunming have rushed over?" When the two arrived at the media reception center at Changshui Airport, photographer Jackson asked in surprise, looking at the foreigners who occupied more than half of the reception center.
"I'm not sure either. The call from headquarters only said it was a very important interview. When I asked what it was, they themselves couldn't clarify, but the invitation came from China High-Speed Railway Technology Development Company."
"You know, this company has been very popular all over the world recently. When they invited us to interview, how could the big shots at headquarters miss such an opportunity? This is the biggest news that can attract attention right now!" Carlotte muttered.
"China High-Speed Railway Technology Development Company? Shouldn't the headquarters of this company be in the capital? Why did they come to Kunming?" Jackson was even more confused.
"You guy, your mind is always on how to deceive those young girls. You're in the media industry, please pay more attention to recent news reports. China's ultra-high-speed vacuum magnetic levitation pipelines are being constructed in two directions, one south and one north. The southernmost starting point is Kunming, so I think if nothing unexpected happens, something significant has happened in Kunming, the southern starting point, which is why China High-Speed Railway Development Company proactively invited us to report on it!" Carlotte snorted.
"Tsk? What big news could they have? Could it be that they have opened for traffic and invited us to ride?" Jackson said with a grin.
"That's definitely impossible. The whole world knows that the news they announced is false. How can they have any pipelines for us to ride?" Carlotte said with disdain.
"That's not necessarily true!" Suddenly, a foreigner with red hair next to them chimed in, "Maybe they really let us ride the pipeline."
"Old Carpen, what are you talking about? Don't you know that these Chinese people can't even see a single exposed pipeline?" Carlotte was very familiar with this person who interjected. After all, Kunming was so small, and there were even fewer foreigners in the media circle, so it was normal for them to know each other.
In fact, 90% of the foreigners in the entire media reception center were people Carlotte knew very well. The remaining ones had probably arrived in Kunming recently and were not very familiar.
"Of course I know. I also know that the Chinese are the most face-saving people on earth. With the current world public opinion, the Chinese will definitely try their best to prove themselves, even if they have to continue to fabricate, they still need to clean up their image!"
"Besides, in two and a half years, the Chinese can't possibly have done nothing. So I estimate that Kunming Station, as the starting point, must be almost completed. And there should be a complete boarding system, a prototype of the magnetic levitation pipeline train, and then a few tens of kilometers of pipeline, which is not surprising."
"So I guess what will happen is that they will really let us experience the ultra-high-speed vacuum magnetic levitation pipeline train, but it will probably only last for a few minutes, covering a dozen kilometers, and then we will return to the starting station. They will tell us that because the safety of the pipeline is still problematic and has not passed the final acceptance, they cannot let us go the full journey, and can only go around in Kunming."
"Finally, they will give each of us a large packet of travel expenses, probably a few thousand yuan, as a way to ask us to speak well of them."
"In this way, to some extent, they can prove themselves. After waiting for a while, the public attention will dissipate, and the matter will be over. Who will care about what happened a few years ago then!"
"It's pretty much the way they solve problems. I've been in China for so long, and I know it very well. This is their method!" Old Carpen said nonchalantly, and Carlotte next to him couldn't refute anything.
Because he had been in China for many years, he knew that the Chinese did indeed handle problems in this way. What Old Carpen said was probably the truth.
The few of them waited for a while longer in the media center at Changshui Airport, from 9 AM to about 11 AM. Carlotte and Old Carpen were both getting impatient.
Carlotte, who had a bad temper, directly cursed, "Are these Chinese people playing with us? They've made us wait in the media center for two hours. With this kind of service attitude, do they expect us to speak well of them in our articles and cover things up?"
"That shouldn't be the case. These Chinese people usually don't treat us this way!" Old Carpen felt something was strange because in the past, whenever they were invited to appear at events in China, whether it was public or private, foreign journalists like them were always given the utmost preferential treatment and care, and delays were rare.
If there were delays, the leaders of these units would come out to appease them and actively offer various benefits. However, they had been waiting for two full hours, and not a single so-called leader had appeared. Only some ordinary staff members were serving them with fruits and drinks, which was a significant drop in treatment compared to before.
"I don't care anymore. Since they are treating us like this, don't blame us for not giving them face. I will definitely expose their truth in my report!" Carlotte's temper flared up, so he directly said to photographer Jackson beside him, "Turn on the camera now and record the entire process. Especially when we ride that broken car, from getting on to departing and getting off, you must film the entire process thoroughly."
"I want to tell the whole world through the media that we only spent a few minutes on that so-called ultra-high-speed magnetic levitation train, went around Kunming, and then came back. This pipeline has not been built at all, it's all a scam!" Carlotte said indignantly, vowing to humiliate these hateful Chinese people.
Just then, there was a sudden commotion in the media center. Everyone inside looked in the direction of the sound. A large group of foreigners carrying bags and packages poured into the media center like a tide.
These people, numbering around two to three hundred, soon crowded the media center, which was already quite spacious.
"Bieber! Why is this guy here too!" Carlotte quickly recognized a few familiar faces among these suddenly entering foreigners. These were all reporters who were originally in the capital. Why were they suddenly in Kunming?
Carlotte immediately found this Bieber and after a chat, he learned that these guys had flown from the capital that morning.
It turned out that there were too few foreign reporters left in Kunming. Many media outlets in countries around the world only had reporters in China's capital, and no reporters in other remote areas, not even a special correspondent.
For example, in some European countries, Middle Eastern countries, and even African and South American countries, the media in these countries truly lacked the resources to station reporters in Kunming.
It was probably because the Chinese felt that the number of invited media reporters was too small to help them debunk rumors worldwide, so they decided to arrange a special plane from the capital to fly a large group of reporters directly to Kunming.
This was why they were delayed until 11 AM. The mystery was solved.
After this group of reporters arrived, the leaders of China High-Speed Railway Development Company finally arrived late. After saying a few words of apology in the media reception center, they quickly disappeared, and staff members began to arrange for all media reporters to board the vehicles.
Although Carlotte and the others were still very dissatisfied, their desire for a big story made it impossible for them to refuse. So they obediently boarded the shuttle bus for reporters and headed to the mysterious starting station.
For this starting station, Carlotte had spent a lot of effort back then.
Carlotte was very unwilling to be assigned by the company to Kunming, which was considered a remote area by Westerners. He wanted to create a big news story to help himself get back.
So, naturally, if he could capture exclusive news of the starting station of China's ultra-high-speed vacuum magnetic levitation train under construction, it would undoubtedly be a great achievement.
However, the security measures of the Chinese were too strict. Carlotte, after all his painstaking efforts and using all sorts of means, could not enter the cordoned-off area. In the end, besides standing on a tall building far away and using a telephoto lens to take a few blurry photos, he gained almost nothing.
And now, being led into the construction site by the Chinese themselves, Carlotte couldn't help but feel a little excited, and a little proud.
The place I couldn't get into through all sorts of means back then, you have to ask me to come in today. This is reality!
Because the airport and the starting station were only 3 kilometers apart, the entire shuttle bus journey was not long. After only five or six minutes, the car stopped, and after getting off, everyone finally saw the appearance of the entire starting station.
It was a beautifully constructed building. From the outside, it looked like a large flower basket filled with flowers, and the entrance to the starting station was the branches and leaves of flowers hanging from the flower basket, which was very beautiful.
Upon entering the starting station, which was the waiting hall, there wasn't anything too unusual. It was basically no different from a train station waiting hall, so there's nothing more to say here.
Nor did they linger in this ordinary waiting hall, but were led by staff directly into a room labeled VIP Waiting Room.
"Be careful, don't let these Chinese discover that we're already filming!" Carlotte whispered to his photographer.