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I woke at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched an Italian game show on TV - pretty sad.
China 2001 - Part Two: Beidaihe
Dougburnett2003-11-23 19:49:32
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Beidaihe, Tuesday, September 4
I woke at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched an Italian game show on TV - pretty sad. After breakfast I walked over to the station and quickly found my train. It was much less confusing than the Beijing station.
The car was packed with loud, excited schoolgirls, presumably on an outing. The seats were arranged facing each other and I felt lucky to be in a row with some older Chinese. My bad luck was to be stuck in the middle seat. Since I was the last to sit down, I said, "Ni hao" (hello) to everybody. They smiled and said "Ni hao'" back. As the only westerner in the car, my seatmates watched my every move.
No sooner had we pulled out than a baby in the seat across the aisle barfed. Everyone jumped up to help. As soon as that minor tragedy was addressed another baby started to wail. I thought to myself, "My, this is certainly going to be a long ride."
With the schoolgirls screeching and the babies crying, the flat, fertile land slid slowly by outside the window. To amuse my seatmates I got out my passport and passed it around - many comments were made. I wonder what they said.
There was a steady stream of traffic in the car. An attendant came by with a pot of hot water to fill the tea drinker’s jars. Then a vendor pushed a cart by selling ice cream, sausage and Coke. Periodically an attendant would sweep the floor. Passengers got up and headed to the area between the cars to use the bathroom, talk on their mobile phones or to have a smoke.
Everyone was eating - eggs, biscuits, fruit, candy bars and containers of noodles. It was a moving village, one I was quickly accepted into. The fellow next to me had a train schedule - in Chinese of course - and that helped to pass the time noting each station we stopped at.
As we neared Beidaihe passengers started
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