A Long Train Ride

Sunday, June 22, 2008--Xi'an and Overnight Train (Continued)

What a mess taking a train is in China. I arrived at the station two hours before my train, and all the seats in the waiting room were already occupied. I moved into the aisle between the seats and stood in line behind the ones who had arrived just before me. As time passed, more people arrived and got in line. Each pushed a little bit although no gates were open. By the last 30 minutes before the gates opened, we were standing waiting with no room to maneuver. Then when the gates opened about 35 minutes before our train was to depart, the pushing REALLY began. Taking the bus is so much easier. A bus is there and one immediately takes an available seat and waits either for the bus to fill or for the departure time to arrive. I will take as many buses as possible during the rest of my visit and only take trains when absolutely necessary.

The occupants of my sleeper compartment were already on the train when I got to the car. They must have been in line ahead of me. They were all young people who had come to Xi'an on a shopping expedition. They were really sweet, nice young people. They all live in smaller cities in Sichuan. None of them spoke English, but we managed to communicate. It was obvious that they were trying to watch out for me, too. They were really concerned when I didn't want to go to the dining car for dinner, but I had already eaten a snack and didn't want more calories.

One note: China has many nuclear power plants. I have seen at least 12 of them so far. Many have 4-5 cooling towers making them massive plants. The scary part is that they are located just near the cities. We passed one with 4 cooling towers in the suburbs of Xi'an as the train pulled out this evening. What a potential disaster there could be if something went wrong. Xi'an is a city orf 14,000,000 people!

We passed a troup train going north just before dark. They had vehicles and other materials on flatbed cars. I guess they have been south working on earthquake relief efforts and are headed home now.

Monday, June 23, 2008--Overnight Train and Chengdu

The young people in my compartment are so funny. Two of the guys are real jokesters and have smiles on their faces all the time. Neither of them is very attractive, but I knew I flattered one of them when I told him his face looks very much like that of Yao Ming, the basketball player (which it does). The other has hair about 10 cm (4 inches) long that is uncontrolable; it just swirls around his cowlick sticking up in the air at different angles. The two of them and the two girls are so happy with their purchases--sunglasses, electronics, fingerless driving gloves, hats, bracelets, etc. They insisted on my sharing their breakfast with them. First, I took a bun which was a little sweet and tasted fine. Then they opened a package of something white in a red oily sauce. I looked, and it looked a bit like shrimp tails (with the little hooked extension on the end). When they insisted, I took one. But it wasn't shrimp tails. It was chicken feet. Yuck. It was all gristle with little to knaw. I managed to get rid of it and to decline any others.

We passed through some areas with earthquake damage as we came to Chengdu. The quake hit to the north and norhtwest of here, but most of the damage was to the northwest. However, there were some collapsed roofs and other evidence in some of the towns we passed as the train came in from the north. And one town had tents everywhere--even in the main streets. I don't know if they were for locally-displaced people or if they were for refugees coming from villages to the northwest.

I have also seen a few tents here in Chengdu. But the one place I have seen them so far doesn't have many. And one of those had been taken down and was being folded up as I walked by. The government is starting to open up the villages for the people to return, so I figure the people from that tent are headed back home.

I had trouble finding an internet cafe again. The one marked in my guidebook didn't seem to exist where they said it should. I went into a local neighborhood not far from my hotel and started asking. Unfortunately, there are many electronic shops in this neighborhood, so they at first thought I wanted to BUY a computer. Anyway, I finally got directed to this one. It is only about 4 blocks from my hotel, I think.

Speaking of the hotel, I got another good bargain. I am paying only 173 yuan per night, and the posted rate for my room is 468 yuan!! Wish I had someone here with me; I get two breakfasts at my rate. The room is contemporary. It's more like something designed by Philip Starke than the hotels where I have been staying. For instance, the bathroom has bright green glass countertops and basin bowl and bright orange towels. The room even has a little sitting area with modern chairs and facilities for me to make my tea (which all hotel rooms here in China seem to have).

Now, I need to go find a place to have Sichuan food. It is known for its spiciness, so I am looking forward to something good tonight!