At 3:15 in the afternoon, the Lufthansa flight finally landed at Shuangliu Airport, with passengers pleased by the on-time arrival.
Eighteen hours of flight time left everyone thoroughly exhausted; even walking on the ground, one could still feel a slight tumultuous sensation.
A domestic flight attendant politely escorted everyone onto the shuttle bus. Just as she turned to go tidy up, she almost fell with a twist of her foot but was gently steadied by a man in his fifties.
"Thank you," said the flight attendant, still shaken.
"You're welcome," the old man replied fluently in Mandarin.
His Mandarin was very authentic, without the common Prussian accent. If one were just listening to his voice, they might not even realize he was a foreigner.
But upon seeing him, one could tell he must be particularly fond of pandas.