Train Journeys......

I am sorry I haven't updated since I first posted my blogs. I have been sick....
I had started to write this particular blog but i couldn't see clearly and had to stop.

So this blog was actually dated 25th June 2004

Train Journeys...

If you are ever in China, it is highly recommended that you take a train journey!

Train journeys here are adventures by itself, and provide unique insights into the Chinese lifestyle and culture. You WILL have a chance to finally MEET chinese of all provinces and education (culture) levels!

Getting on a train is a task suitable for "Amazing Race"!

First, you have got to buy a ticket!

There are several kinds of tickets!
Seating tickets (hard seats) which are unnumbered or soft seats which might be numbered. Sleeping arrangements can be had in two categories: 1. Hard beds which are 6 bunk beds with hard mattresses stacked in threes (top, middle, bottom) or (上， 中， 下） in a open cubicle of about 1.5-2 metres wide;
2. Higher class ones which are 4 bunk beds with soft mattresses stacked in twos (top, bottom) or (上， 下） in a closed cubicle of about 1.5-2 metres wide.

The advantage of the latter meant that at least you could close your cubicle door and sleep, and you won't have strangers sitting on your beds which WILL happen when you happen to have a 下 (bottom) bunk bed in the open cubicle arrangement! And strangers don't comes in ones! They usually come in a pack and you have no idea where they come from and where their places are! And they just sit down /lie down /eat /drink at your bunk bed! You WON'T have any peace or quiet! But you WILL be able to find out all about their life, what they do, why they are going to their desired location...that is if you understand their mandarin accents!
Trust me on this.....

Now, how and where to get a ticket....
For the adventurous only, I will advise that one queue early to get a desired ticket at the ticket booth. And you NEED to have very strong elbows or VERY strong shoving powers or you HAVE to be TALL!

Since I have none of the above, and I was on a business trip, so my colleague and I got our tickets from our client's who "booked" them from their trusted agents!

So in the event you fail to get a desired ticket, one can always resort to ticket touts / special ticket agents (票换).

For official train stop tickets, you can pay a premium and the premium varies according to how "hot" the dates are! So if you are travelling during the May Day holidays or during festive occasions, GOD bless you...
After calling your "agent" and "placing an order" on your tickets, you are advised to go to the train station to wait!
They will deliver their tickets to you, and possibly to a few others at the same time.
But no....you won't be obtaining your tickets straightaway...it's not that easy!

Here is the process of getting on the train

First, they will give you "standing" platform tickets for you to enter the platforms.
These aren't actual seat tickets! These are tickets for you to accompany a passenger and send the person off on a train...

After obtaining the platform ticket, you are told to queue separately and not in a group, to get past the station attendents onto the required platform...

Getting to the platform is another story....I am going to digress from the ticket story and go into the platform story...If you don't want to hear this part of the story, scroll downwards...

Once again, you need to have VERY strong elbows...and you MUST hold your belongings close to you and you WILL be asked to wait for a long time in a tight hot confined space where someone will DEFINITELY be breathing very close to you...
And you wait....and wait.....

Should the train beckons near the station platform, the platform gate will be opened! Here's where the fun starts! Pandemonium breaks loose!!!!
It's like a rock concert with crazy fans trying to get closer to that one...elusive person! In this case, it is the station attendent who's holding the gate open to people who have the TICKET!

So there I was, holding tightly on my overnight bag, and my laptop backpack trudging along in the midst...all in the aim of getting through....and hoping that the station attendent will let me through.....
Seriously..anyone with an ounce of brain will know that I am not "sending" a person off! I have 2 bags with me!!

After the tight "passage" through...we regrouped right at the door and proceeded to the appropriate platform (if you don't speak chinese it's ok..just follow the large group of people...and hope...)

At the platform...still no tickets!

When the train arrives, another agent hopped off the train, and you are allocated "tags" which are the equivalent of tickets...and you board the train...

Oh, however if you had the right tickets and didn't have to resort to the tags, you will be required to exchange your ticket for these tags.

Why the tags? It's because the same seat can be occupied by different ticket holders at different stages of the journey...

We were going from Shi Yan to Wuhan. Someone(s) might board after Wuhan as this train goes to Guangzhou!

On the train....

You will run into a vast array of people! Young, old, washed, unwashed, quiet, noisy....male or female...you will have them all!

And this brings me to another point....be sure to ask first whether your train has airconditioning! 'cause that was something which we neglected! So on our journey back from Shi Yan to Wuhan, there was no air-conditioning!!!
And it's summer in China now! Fortunately my cabin had a fan. The one next day had a faulty one!

People play some sort of a poker card game on the train....
I still have yet to figure out what that game is...
Perhaps when I do have another opportunity, I will examine it!

I haven't had the opportunity to examine the seating portions of the train...but from what I have seen, it ain't pleasant!

I have been told that for May holidays and festive occasions, you might literally have to stand the whole journey through! Can you imagine being squeezed and on your feet for more than 10 hours.......

A train journey toughens one up!

I should leave you with one advice...
Before a train journey, have a good rest!
If not, bring very strong ear plugs! And try your best to be anti-social....

Take care...