The Chinatown buses first showed up roughly 30 years ago when the casinos in Connecticut opened and the Chinese gamblers in NYC and Boston packed them. That soon evolved into $10 trips between Boston and NYC and at the same time the Chinese buses offered NYC and DC service.
My first experience was taking a Fung Wah on a Monday afternoon leaving Beach St Chinatown in Boston at 5 PM. We arrived in Manhattan at 7:50 PM - do the math
In 2010 I took a Chinatown bus from New York to Greenville, SC, and took it back to NYC a week later. We had several rest stops and the bus pulled into a motel in Virginia to change drivers. It even had workable wifi in 2010.
In 2011 I rolled the dice and took a Chinatown Bus from Chicago to NYC. The fare was only $30 and the stop was a restaurant near the CTA Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station. A bus never arrived but then a van did and the driver said he would drive us to the bus. What he failed to mention was he was going to take us to a truck stop in Youngstown, OHIO. At the truck stop, he ordered us out and told us a bus would soon arrive. Truck stop employees told us not to worry this happens all the time and the bus showed up 90 minutes later and we arrived in New York 15 minutes early.
The crazy thing was the website that sold tickets for the Chinatown buses sent me a refund saying the trip was canceled.
I am sure others reading this have stories.
My first experience was taking a Fung Wah on a Monday afternoon leaving Beach St Chinatown in Boston at 5 PM. We arrived in Manhattan at 7:50 PM - do the math
In 2010 I took a Chinatown bus from New York to Greenville, SC, and took it back to NYC a week later. We had several rest stops and the bus pulled into a motel in Virginia to change drivers. It even had workable wifi in 2010.
In 2011 I rolled the dice and took a Chinatown Bus from Chicago to NYC. The fare was only $30 and the stop was a restaurant near the CTA Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station. A bus never arrived but then a van did and the driver said he would drive us to the bus. What he failed to mention was he was going to take us to a truck stop in Youngstown, OHIO. At the truck stop, he ordered us out and told us a bus would soon arrive. Truck stop employees told us not to worry this happens all the time and the bus showed up 90 minutes later and we arrived in New York 15 minutes early.
The crazy thing was the website that sold tickets for the Chinatown buses sent me a refund saying the trip was canceled.
I am sure others reading this have stories.
