Overnight Train

Since we have been to China, Tammy and I have discussed taking an overnight train to Beijing or somewhere else. It seemed there was a certain sense of the train being a great way to travel and see the country. There was almost a mystique to the stories we heard describing the trains and we drank the Kool-Aid and thought it sounded very special. I am here to tell you that the bloom is off of the rose on this one. As Paul Harvey would say; “and now….the rest of the story.”

The company held an outing over the past weekend to Henan province to visit a few of the local sights (I won’t tell you where so you’ll have to check in again to find out). In order to get to Henan, specifically Zhengzhou, we would take the overnight train leaving Suzhou at 6:00pm and arriving in Zhengzhou at about 8:30am. So we took the sleeper train to Zhengzhou. It would be the first time I had traveled like that and I could get the Chinese experience of traveling like the locals that we see on the weekends walking around in their group hats. So with a certain sense of excitement and trepidation, I accepted the offer to make the journey with the other 300+ associates of the company. I didn’t know exactly where I would be sleeping, with whom I would be traveling or anything but I hoped for the best (and prepared for the worst). The train station is nothing new so I won’t go through that saga, it was the normal train station experience (at least normal for here). So when it comes time, I climb aboard the sleeper train (in this case we were on what is referred to as a “hard sleeper”). It was a little stunning, I have to be honest. Each car held 66 people and had a aisleway/corridor that ran down the one side of the car. On the other side were bunks, 6 in a section (so for you math wizards there were 11 sections per train). No doors, no curtains or anything to separate you from the masses, just your bunk and a place to toss your stuff. It wasn’t exactly made for Westerners, especially the top bunks. My ticket was for the top bunk and when I climbed to the top, I bopped my head immediately when I attempted to sit up. There was no room to sit, you could only lay down. You were about 7-8 feet off the floor on the top bunk, no guardrails or anything to keep you from going over during the night (I can hear the stampede of ambulance chasers now running to file lawsuits). There was a pillow and comforter stacked on each bunk and that’s about it. The aisleway had small “table tops” that were by the windows along with folding seats so you could sit at the table and talk, eat or play cards. Pretty rustic stuff compared to what I was expecting. Just so you know, one of the kids swapped bunks with me so I could be on the bottom bunk which was the largest bunk and doubled as a “sofa” for people to sit and talk. I know that you are asking yourselves about the “accommodations” (“Stop boring us with that stuff, tell us about the toilets?”). Well, at one end of the car were two sinks for all of your bathing & hygiene needs. At either end of the car was a toilet but as you might imagine, it wasn’t a Western potty, it was the squatty potty. There was a nice handrail low on the wall by the potty so you could brace yourself with the movement of the train and a “gas pedal” to flush. (The way it was put together was comical. I thought all they needed was a steering wheel instead of the handrail and it could’ve been driving practice.) The ventilation was a small window, and there was a tiny sink and of course the wastebasket for all of your used tp. It wasn’t exactly the gold standard for toilets but when you travel like the locals….

Now although there were many people in the company on the train, there were just as many regulars on the train that were forced to intermingle with the confusion and chaos created by a bunch of young Chinese “kids” that were going on a field trip (with no chaperones). That’s the only way I could describe it, it was a group of unsupervised 20-30 year olds that were going on an all expense paid vacation (or you can take what’s behind Door #2, tell them what it is Johnny Olson…..a new car!). Chaotic and entertaining all rolled into one. How they interacted with each other is hard to describe but everyone seems to get along like they’ve known each other since grade school. I guess it would be best described like the Expats here. We all share one common experience, living in a foreign country and since we can share that, we hang out together and form bonds. For many of the workers it is the same thing. They left home to come to Suzhou to work, they find others in the same situation and they form an almost instant bond. We were hired on the same day so you are now my new best friend. Given that they are all generally under the age of 25, perhaps it’s better viewed like a fraternity party without the alcohol but with the same amount of energy. There is no consideration of others, it’s party time!

Since it was after 6:00, they started bringing out their food for the trip. I’ll take a quick segway here into how they pack. I packed for 3 days with change of clothes, toiletries, etc. I mean think about how you would pack and what kind of suitcase you might need. After all, we’re headed Northwest of Suzhou so the weather will be different and we had to prepare for rain, etc. I got everything into a mid-size backpack and had a smaller pack for the camera. I also took 2 boxes of granola bars for sustenance since I had no idea what would be on the menu anywhere. I made every effort to not go overboard with clothes and stuff but it was difficult. I wanted to be warm so it took a little more thought to try and get everything to work out. When I looked at what I was carrying compared to the locals, it appeared that I was headed into the wilderness for a month long trek on the Silk Road. How did they pack? They packed FOOD and perhaps a change in undies or a heavy jacket but that was it. Many just had a plastic bag with food and no change in clothes. Seriously, they wore the same thing each day but for them, it was normal. The girls tended to pack more stuff and had small backpacks but most didn’t have any change in clothes so every day they wore the same outfit. It was about the food and how much you could bring along. They had fruit, cakes, dried fruit, dried meats & fish, chips, nuts, just about everything you could think of that you would not take (chicken feet, packaged eggs, packaged tofu, etc.). Some had noodle bowls that they would add hot water and eat while others basically snacked for their meal. Me, I had ½ of a Subway sandwich for dinner. Beyond the food, the interesting part was that they shared everything they had with others. They opened their bag of food and offer stuff to others. Sometimes, they would open the bags of others and grab something out and begin to munch on it. This was so different than I expected. In the US if you open my bag and grab my food, we’re going to have a problem. Not even a second thought was given and everyone happily shared with others. They continued all night to offer me food and it was like I could never refuse it. I would decline, it would be offered again and again until I took some. One of the ladies brought sushi that she made herself. I was scared to death of this. It was 7:00, no refrigeration since she left home (if it was in the fridge at all) and I had no idea if it had shrimp or what kind of meat in it. Talk about your walking wounded if that came back on me. Throwing up with a Western potty provides some degree of trepidation on a train (who sat on this last?) but when you think about throwing up in a squatty…..yikes! (I know, paints a pretty picture doesn’t it) Turns out, I did try it and the meat was a hot dog cube in the middle with a cucumber for the veggie. It was very delicious and I was surprised (and thankful that I didn’t pay the price for this test). So, there wasn’t really what we would call a meal, it was grazing for supper. Then when they were hungry again, they pulled out more snacks to eat and snacked some more. The calorie intake wasn’t very high and there was a lot of junk eaten but it seemed normal to them and I just sat and observed. Every once in awhile a train attendant would walk down the aisleway with a cart of drinks and snacks. There was also the “soup cart” that a lady came through with. It was like the carts for airplanes but the sides were solid and there was a huge container with a ladle sticking out for the soup. This looked like a wagon that would be used at a prison where they would walk by and slosh some broth or gruel into your cup (please sir, may I have a scrap of bread to go with my broth?). Nasty looking stuff and I didn’t see anyone eat it. Every once in awhile an attendant would come through with a trash bag and a broom to keep the place clean.

The cars were all connected and in between each section was the smoking area. It didn’t really matter much because the smell of cigarettes wafted just about everywhere. So you had a lot of noise with the talking and laughing of the locals, the “smooth” (that’s sarcasm just so you know) movement of the train and the smell of cigarettes to create an ambiance that was completely new to me. I think I had walked into the bar like Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movie (but it’s now Star Wars IV right), it was the same feeling. We had many stops along the way for people to get on and off the train so it was ride for awhile, stop, ride, stop…you get the drift. I just people watched and talked with those that spoke some English. I was surrounded by the kids so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. They played the Chinese version of poker but I could not figure out how it was played. They didn’t play for money and it was more about the interaction than anything else for the girls. They would look at each others hands, steal cards, etc. It was an interesting dynamic as they just wanted to talk and have fun, the game was secondary to everything else. Steve and I taught a couple of them how to play Texas Hold’em since we couldn’t understand their game. They seemed to grasp it but it took all they could do to keep from taking the cards from the center and using them in their hand.

At 9:45pm, the attendant came through and indicated the lights would be turned off at 10:00 so everyone started to get ready for bed. I was a lot nervous about the pillow and comforter since I didn’t see that they had any kind of sanitary environment for washing these items (if they washed them). So I decided to snuggle down with just my jacket as a blankey. When the lights went off, it didn’t stop the noise, they kept chatting away like it was nothing but I had prepared for this eventuality by bringing along earplugs to wear. There were several issues besides the noise from talking, one was the aisleway lights. They were pointed more across the aisle than down at the floor so they were light little laser beams that hit you in the face unless you moved your foot or something to block the glare. Then there were the window curtains that didn’t block out all of the light so when you went by another station or train or any kind of light, it lit up the entire compartment. Of course there was the herky-jerky motion of the train and then the stops up until about midnight where people were getting on and off the train and of course they had to walk through your car to get to where they were going, chatting all the way (by chatting I mean loudly projecting their voice to be heard on the other side of the universe, “Is this the car”, “Nope, 12 more to go”, “Okay, what else can we talk about on the way there?”, “How about I tell you a story about the little engine that couldn’t shut the hell up”, “I love that story, I’m sure everyone else wants to hear it too.”, “You are right, I’ll talk louder”…and of course they had the obligatory bump of their luggage against each and every bunk as they walked by. Ma and Pa Wang go to Zhengzhou.) I placed my jacket over my head to block the light, put in my earplugs and tried to sleep. I kept having this weird dream that I was taking a loud, crowded, smoky train across China and every time I woke up, it was true! Aiya! I think I was finally able to nod off at about 11:30-12:00 and slept in intervals of maybe 60-90 minutes. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed in the world but at least it was a sleeper car (maybe I stated this before but I have a colleague that took a 21 hour train ride to his hometown and had to purchase a standing room only ticket, now that would be very uncomfortable!). At around 5:30am, the kids began to stir and chat it up again and get their morning breakfast. Fruit, nuts, candy, junk food, whatever. Me, I took my Sigg bottle (that’s an endorsement people, they owe me $5) and headed to the hot water dispenser with my coffee pack to get the morning jolt at about 6:30. I walked by people splashing themselves in the sinks like birds in a birdbath, no nakedness so at least I didn’t have to see that. I had my granola bars and ate my breakfast and tried to come alive. They kept asking me if I needed to “shower” (which I guess was splash myself with cold water) and I indicated I already had. No change in clothes, just wake up and come as you are…not exactly a refreshing morning but at least we were closer to our destination.

Stay tuned for the destination.....