China 2006 - arrival - part 3 - the train ride

written 20060316 beijing time to the station

from the hotel, we took a not too long ride to the "train station." i tried to figure out how to get around and about if i were to go to beijing by myself. i realize, i will never be able to do what i did at St. Joseph in Quebec. i don't know then language. after taking the train, it confirms this. so more about the train in China experience.

as as soon as got off the cab, a woman asks us if she can carry my suitcase. this is the second incident of something like this. paulina, a friend, had mentioned something like this when she went to Thailand. the woman asked for 15 yuan. she was probably as old as me and hongmei put together, and desperate. she followed through baggage check (which was really not baggage check, more like we do it for doing it.), and asked and carried my 67.5 lb bag. it could've broken her back.

so it snowed, which was beautiful. people scattered. it wasn't a typical canadian train station. it was a typical old china train station with stands of food and people carrying their belongings in whatever bags that should not break. rice bags, old gym bags, garbage bags, luggage bags,..

we waited for hongmei's friend to arrive. which he did. he didn't speak English. he was friendly and helped with my bag. closer to the entrance of wherever we were going, someone else asks to take our luggage, also expressing that to go to our platform there are many stairs up and down. we finally oblige. only 10 yuan now, and we did realize that the stairs were steep. that amount equates to 1.50$ cdn. he brings my luggage into our cabin.

on the train

so we get a little cabin of four beds. we share with another person whom we don't know. a comrade. again, no English. hongmei and i chat, then hongmei and her friend chat. i look out of the window. more people carrying their stuff in "bags." i take pictures. pictures of the gi-normous kiwis. they amuse me. i take a nap.

hongmei tells me that we are taking first class, which cost 30 yuan one way. calculating it, it works out to 4.50$ cdn. our trip is 13 hours by train. she explains. 3rd class includes a seat that you would have to sit in for 13 hours, at 1$ each way. 2nd class includes a doorless cabin, shared with 5 other people, not two bunks per wall, but 3. most can't afford 1st class.

i enjoyed the airplane ride better, except for the bed on the train. i was entertained on the airplane, with movies, radio stations, food service. the train was humbling. as a colleague here at the school says, if you go to China, it will be a waste if you don't take the train.

the washroom was literately a hole in the floor. great i thought. napkins were offered by hongmei.

hongmei also had to the tickets from beijing to jincheng beforehand from a friend. they were first class and would be hard to come by on the same day.

also, hongmei, coming to beijing to pick me up from jincheng, took 3rd class. i don't know where to situate myself to that.