SHENZHEN — Heavy rain and violent thunderstorms delayed thousands of passengers at Shenzhen’s airport Friday, causing havoc at airline counters where irate Chinese passengers scrambled to find alternate flights out of the city.

At the Shenzhen airlines counter, men slammed their fists on counter tops and shouted loudly.

Delayed travelers at Shenzhen airport crowd in front of and behind an airline counter.

The women, many of them on their cell phones, whimpered to loved ones to say they’d be late, then turned around to bark at the frazzled young ticket agents, struggling to handle the dozens of hands waving ID cards and overdue boarding passes.

Behind them, dozens more were pushing and shoving their way to the front of the line.

Wait, did I just say “line”?

There was no line. Just a hoard of people thrusting themselves in front the counter while another angry mob had gone behind the counter by unlatching the side door and jamming themselves right next to the three ticket agents.

The lightning, thunder and flash floods began Thursday night in Hong Kong and the south-eastern parts of Guangdong Province forcing thousands more to spend the night at the airport.

One of those travelers, a Canadian named Jordan, was trying to get to Shanghai since Thursday evening. He’s working at the Canadian pavilion at the World Expo. But China Southern airlines couldn’t tell him what flight he’d be able to catch and when he could leave.

“I have never experienced this in my whole life,” he said. “This is f***** up.”

En route to Zhejiang province, a Dutch traveler edged his way behind the counter of Shenzhen airlines.

The crowd pushed up against each other. People were sweating. And shouting.

Wedged between Wenzhounese businessmen in blazers and a pushy mother clutching her baby, he waited patiently next to a male ticket agent who was quickly re-booking travelers whose flights had been canceled Friday morning.

Next to him, a young female ticket agent in her 20s, stood up and threw her hands up in the air. Near tears, she pleaded with the crowd to get out from behind the counter and line up.”你们出去啊！GET OUT!” she screamed.

But it was no use.  The people only grew more distraught. One woman grabbed her by the shoulders in protest. “小姐，你去哪儿？Miss, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”

It had been nearly 30 minutes. It was becoming unbearable. The Dutch traveler, clutching a Canadian and EU Passport, never liked to ask for special treatment when in China. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

He edged closer to the male ticket agent and held the passports in the agent’s peripheral vision, hoping the shiny booklets would catch his eye in the sea of Chinese IDs.

“Excuse me,” he said softly in English. “Could you please change my flight going to Wenzhou?”

He did this repeatedly, quietly and subtly, until the agent acknowledged his presence.

Then, the Dutch traveler switched into Chinese. He whispered in the agent’s ear while pointing at the passports:

“温州，温州。 下一个。下一个。Wenzhou. Wenzhou. I’m next. I’m next.”

The mantra worked. After booking several Chinese passengers, he grabbed the passports and began his work. An 8:50 a.m. flight from Shenzhen to Wenzhou was rebooked for 5:05 p.m.

The Dutch and Canadian celebrated over two bowls of noodle soup.

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