Nanjing to Beijing

So another one of the must do's before I die is a very long train journey.  At 16hrs and covering 1,800 kms I think this one is well and truly done.  The journey starts in Nanjing after a few days delay due to the bank holiday and the first available tickets.  We took these tickets only knowing the date and time of departure and not knowing if we had a sleeper seat or the dreaded hard seat or how long the journey was.  The language barrier at the train station made just getting the tickets tricky never mind trying to get the answers to these questions so we accepted that it would be what it would be! 

 

We got kicked out of our hotel at 12 noon and so had a few hours to kill.  We decided to do our favourite past time....people watching, a sport that never gets boring in China.  Eventually the time of departure arrived and the mad rush for the train starts. I find it helpful in China to be carrying a 20kg rucksack and go for it like a native as they tend to move out of the way when I am swinging my European bulk and rucksack in their direction.  This is the only time they do move out of the way I hasten to add.  Its every man for themselves here!

So we progressed with purpose to our carriage and upon arriving at said carriage my face dropped when I saw the scene.  Imagine a hot summers day, the Silverlink train back to MK from London on a Friday afternoon but in addition to this cram of people were chickens/cats/dogs and bags that make my rucksack look like a handbag (ok so I exaggerate about the livestock but you get the picture).  Bugger, this was not going to be fun....and for 16 hours.  Arggghhhhh!!!  Emma of course had read the ticket properly and kept walking to the correct carriage and the soft sleeper!  What a difference (I must remember to not show my reaction on my face.  Emma could not stop laughing at the completely shocked and devastated look).  Our actual seats were in a small cabin with 4 bunk beds with clean white linen and a little table with vase and flower.  Ah, that's better.  We stowed our kit and like dogs made our nest for the journey.

 

The Chinese scenery from the train was pretty much the same, a flat delta as far as the horizon with lots of rivers and wet areas punctuated by large towns.  Most of the towns we saw had in the centre very modern gleaming towers surrounded by large numbers of high rise flats which look like they should have been pulled down years ago.  Most have bars on the windows which made me wonder whether this was to keep people out or keep people in!  When I say large numbers we are talking 20 or 30+ all the same design and clustered very close together. Then in between this in any available spaces are the shanty houses, brick walled buildings with plastic sheet or corrugated iron for a roof.  Interestingly most with a satellite dish to pick up the TV....you have to get your priorities straight.  There are not as many shanty houses as in India but still enough to remind you of the gap between the rich and poor.

Many come from the countryside to try and find jobs and a better life.  The book says that nearly 10 million a year are deserting the rural areas for the cities making it the biggest migration of people in human history!  This migration and China's history goes some way to explain why the Chinese are the way they are, more on this when I am outside China!  Big brother and all that!!

 

We soon realised that the reason the train would take 16 hrs rather than the normal 9 hrs is that we had got the slow train that stops at most of the big towns/cities on the way.  It was quite an amazing sight to watch them cram ever more people and bags onto an already over filled train.  Luckily they don't allow people into the sleeper compartments unless they have a valid ticket, otherwise it would be carnage with people sitting wherever they like, ticket or no ticket.

 

After a little while I went for a wander in our new environment and after dark the sight that presented itself in the hard seat carriage (cheap seats) reminded me of a scene from the film Aliens. It's the bit when the trapped army guy lifts a ceiling tile to see a hoard of aliens on the
ceiling, walls and floor all coming towards him in a dimly lit corridor.  That's what I was reminded of when looking into the carriage.  The very same carriage I had thought our seats were in!!!

 

We shared our cabin with five other people, yes I know I said it was a 4-berth. One a lovely Chinese girl who spoke good English called Jojo. She was travelling from near to Hong Kong to Beijing to get a visa to travel to South Africa to get married (everyone say ahhh), really nice girl and one of the friendliest we had met so far.  When asked if she was going to miss China she said no!

 

The other two were guys who spoke no English and played cards most of the night.  At lights out time I was rather relived that one of the guys left to go back to wherever his seat was.  I don't think I would have enjoyed watching them spoon all night on what was a very narrow bed!  

 

Now I like to be able to say that the gentle movement of the train and the tiredness brought on from some busy days sightseeing resulted in one of the best night sleep I have ever had.  I can't!!!  We stop-started, shunted all night with the train vibrating at times like a washing machine, much of this probably due to being on the slower track.  Emma was on the top bunk and so every bump was exaggerated for her.  She said that it was like trying to sleep through a 9 hour earthquake.  So needless to say, when we arrived at Beijing at 7am we weren't feeling very refreshed!  All part of the experience....or so Emma keeps telling me! 

 

So when Emma asked me if I still fancy the 27 hr train ride from Xi'an to Guilin, my response was not a chance, we are flying!!!!!! 

 

Next time:  Beijing - population 15.6 million and the political and cultural capital of China.