Arriving in China
Trip Start
Jan 24, 2004
1
14
31
Trip End
Apr 01, 2004
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Beijing,
China
Monday, February 23, 2004
23rd February 2004
The changing of the wheel assemblies ( the bogies ) is like a formula one pit stop. The Chinese railway system operates on a narrower gauge than the Russian and Mongolian one. So the entire train gets hoisted up in the air and new bogies some zipping in on cables and re-attached to the undercarriage by high performing operatives. I remember once reading one of Chairman Mao's slogans "You must enjoy your work !" Clearly they do.
I am in China . Waking up , I turn to look out the window . The scenery has by now become very Asian with only dirt roads and ancient farming tools attached to donkeys. My compartment contains more Chinese faces than before. They watch and wait for me to make a comment. The man with his young son has turned the compartment floor into a makeshift bin . The young boy begins to use an upper berth as a trampoline. Then dives diagonally down across the compartment, crashing into his father who is eating in such a way that he seems to have his head part way up a whole roast chicken. The collision results in the cooked chicken spinning up into the air. There are roars of laughter as more fragments of poultry fly from the lips of the Chinaman. I see that my own bed, like the floor, is littered with what looks like rice and chicken-shrapnel. The whoops of laughter interspersed with rapid babbling Chinese continues for quite a time. I do find the whole thing amusing and start to join in with their laughter which stimulates a pause , then wide-eyed looks in my direction followed by more high pitched babbling and explosive belly laughs.
My companions
It is a riot of noise and activity and I haven't even had breakfast yet. I find the restaurant car and start to feel like I'm trapped in a kind of mind-game , I see they've changed it again . Now we have a far more clinical representation of a dining car. And the requirement for little tickets, breakfast coupons. But I am very sorry to see that the heart of the breakfast seems to be boiled eggs. I don't eat them . The elder man in my compartment of fun has joined me and can see my disappointment. He swaps his share of bread and jam for my eggs, so that now I have double bread and jam. And Lord knows how his guts will react to four boiled eggs . I am very grateful to him. My main bag contains the current level of basic supplies ; several powdered soups, 3 oranges, 2 cans of beer. A jar of blackcurrant jam and of course , that gin . But no cigarettes.
The train crosses under a section of the Great Wall of China . And stops a while to allow passengers time to take some pictures. Today , it seems , is a day of bizarre humour. As the locomotive accelerates towards Beijing , the speaker system blares out the The Dambusters March , a favourite with military brass bands. I can scarcely believe it. Soon after, we have arrived in Beijing. The capital of the People's Republic of China . I am thrilled and ready to collapse into a deep sleep. The railway journey of a lifetime has passed successfully , and here I am.
Next ; Beijing by bicycle
