greatcats
Engineer
Good afternoon - ( just had this all typed out and hit the wrong button and lost everything. ) I posted my Arizona to San FRancisco trip of a few weeks ago and some of you seemed to enjoy it. I am going to relate some things about my tour of China of last January. Many of the details are not too fresh in my mind and I am not going to describe the whoe trip. I arranged a 30 day leave of ansence from my Grand Canyon tour bus driver job and booked a 20 day trip with Intrepid Travel from Beijing to Hong Kong. Intrepid is a very good Australian company that does not do five star hotels - I would call it middle class to backpackers. I had travelled with them once before, in 200 Bangkok to Hanoi through Laos, which included a comfortable night in a berth type Thai sleeper Bangkok to Chiang Mai. On this trip we had six guests and a young British lady who was a godsend. This travelogue is not going to be the most rosy trip report - some of China I found obnoxious and messy, and that includes some of the locals. But I must be fair, that some things, like climbing the Great Wall ( harder than the Grand Canyon )concerts, festive meals, and many other locals were great. It was marred greatly by the horrendous food poisoning episode that befell me in Yangshuo. You do not want to know the deatils. I was sidettracked for four days in hotel rooms. My tour director wisely suggested that i remain in that town, which was used to dealing with western tourist, and she moved me to a nicer hotel and arranged for a doctor. That prince of a man came to my hotel three days in a row and administered intravenous feedings and got me back on my feet. BBless him, a thousand times, over - Dr. Tan! I also have good things to say about another medical episode - I arrived CHina with a badly out of kilter back. Joanna, our escort, referred me to the INternational Medical Center in Beijing, where I was given acupuncture, with hot class jars placed over the needles in my hip and calf. That proceudre is called cupping. MIraculous - I have not had anything done to my back now in nearly a year@
So much for the background - this is about trains. I had arrived Hong Kong on my own, spent a few days there, and was part of the congregation on Sunday morning at St. John's Anglican Cathedral. SInce I am a bass soloist in church choirs here ( Flagstaff at present ) the choir director took notice of me and invited me to sing with his choir the next time I am in Hong Kong! After a few days, I departed on Train T98, the express which is a fairly new service between HOng Kong and Beijing. THis was on my own, not part of the tour. The first class sleeper compartment was quite comfy, but the young lady who was the car attendant was indifferent. The dining car served passable food ( the conductor assisted in translating the menu ) but the service was snappish. CHinese dining cars seat guests at stained tablecloths and overflowing ashtrays. This train does not seem to serve intermediate points and only stops for crew changes. It passes by the border into mainland China without stopping. Frankly, I thought it would be an interesting ride - not really. The scenery, especially in winter, is dreary. The industrail cities are ugly, with hideous looking apartment buildings. The heat in the sleep gradually declined the further north we travelled. This is not a heavily patronized train, and seems to be meant for businessmen. The masses do not ride this one. It is about a 24 hour trip to Beijing, and I believe we were about two hours late. Passport control is in Beijing station and I found an honest cabbie to take me to my hotel. After a few ripoffs which got me annoyed ( and me being the klutzy tourist ) our group set out on the first overnight journey to XI'an, home of the famous terra cotta warriors exhibit. Welcome to the second class sleeper mode of travel. Hordes of people board trains like these. ( Guess what, nearly all of the look Chinese! HA!) The second class sleepers accomodate 66 passengers. Each compartment, without door, has six bunks, stacked three high. The top one is up in the ceiling, but actually has the best headroom. One of my companions said that if I do not like these trains, then don't go to India! WHile there are dining cars, food vendors constantly push carts through the narrow aisles, where there are folding seats and tiny tables along the aisle oppositie the sleeping compartments. Two squat toilets are located at the ends of the car. I don't mind squat designs, but the Chinese policy is to lock them at station stops. I understand the reason, as these dump on the tracks, but when did I have to use the facilities? Of course, as we were stopped, sometimes, for extended periods, resulting in some tense moments with car attendats, who refused to open them until we started moving. Once, I ran in there as we were slowing down, and the car attendant lady banged on the door and yelkled at me in Chinese. I just pounded back, as I wasn't about to leave! Our four segments on this tour, which had much to say for Intrepid's mode of offering tours, were from Beijing to Xi'an. Xi'an to Shanghai, SHanghai to Guilin ( 32 hours ) and Guilin to Shenzen. ( Hong Kong border. ) These trains got us there, not usually on time, and they carry huge numbers of passengers. The second class bunks , once one navigates the little ladder, are actaully fairly comfortable once a fairly large person like me gets settled in them. Other than the diner, there is no lounge car, so one spends most of the time in these compartments during the day conversing with the other tour memebers, and we did converse with some great students, who were a pleasure to meet. These train go on through the day and the night, sometimes reversing direction rather inexplicably. Most of the stations are not that old, but very dreay places. The exception was Shanghai South station, which is like a modern circular airport terminal.
After I was so ill, I felt much better, but was not up to a second class sleeper for the final leg from Guilin to Shenzen. I stayed in my hotel to the last moment and was taken in a taxi driven by a cheerful Chinese girl about 20 miles Yangshuo, where I had stayed, back to Guilin and rejoined my group, which had gone off touring elsewhere. The first class sleeper was again fairly nice and comfortable, and fortunately the toilets were not an issue on the long ride to Shenzen, where we boarded a commuter train to Hong Kong ( Kowloon ) and a nice hotel. I actually enjoyed the last few days of what was a difficult trip, before United Airlines returned me to the U.S. I hope you found my description of Chinese trains enlightening - in many ways the service is pretty good. Frankly, I prefer Amtrak!
So much for the background - this is about trains. I had arrived Hong Kong on my own, spent a few days there, and was part of the congregation on Sunday morning at St. John's Anglican Cathedral. SInce I am a bass soloist in church choirs here ( Flagstaff at present ) the choir director took notice of me and invited me to sing with his choir the next time I am in Hong Kong! After a few days, I departed on Train T98, the express which is a fairly new service between HOng Kong and Beijing. THis was on my own, not part of the tour. The first class sleeper compartment was quite comfy, but the young lady who was the car attendant was indifferent. The dining car served passable food ( the conductor assisted in translating the menu ) but the service was snappish. CHinese dining cars seat guests at stained tablecloths and overflowing ashtrays. This train does not seem to serve intermediate points and only stops for crew changes. It passes by the border into mainland China without stopping. Frankly, I thought it would be an interesting ride - not really. The scenery, especially in winter, is dreary. The industrail cities are ugly, with hideous looking apartment buildings. The heat in the sleep gradually declined the further north we travelled. This is not a heavily patronized train, and seems to be meant for businessmen. The masses do not ride this one. It is about a 24 hour trip to Beijing, and I believe we were about two hours late. Passport control is in Beijing station and I found an honest cabbie to take me to my hotel. After a few ripoffs which got me annoyed ( and me being the klutzy tourist ) our group set out on the first overnight journey to XI'an, home of the famous terra cotta warriors exhibit. Welcome to the second class sleeper mode of travel. Hordes of people board trains like these. ( Guess what, nearly all of the look Chinese! HA!) The second class sleepers accomodate 66 passengers. Each compartment, without door, has six bunks, stacked three high. The top one is up in the ceiling, but actually has the best headroom. One of my companions said that if I do not like these trains, then don't go to India! WHile there are dining cars, food vendors constantly push carts through the narrow aisles, where there are folding seats and tiny tables along the aisle oppositie the sleeping compartments. Two squat toilets are located at the ends of the car. I don't mind squat designs, but the Chinese policy is to lock them at station stops. I understand the reason, as these dump on the tracks, but when did I have to use the facilities? Of course, as we were stopped, sometimes, for extended periods, resulting in some tense moments with car attendats, who refused to open them until we started moving. Once, I ran in there as we were slowing down, and the car attendant lady banged on the door and yelkled at me in Chinese. I just pounded back, as I wasn't about to leave! Our four segments on this tour, which had much to say for Intrepid's mode of offering tours, were from Beijing to Xi'an. Xi'an to Shanghai, SHanghai to Guilin ( 32 hours ) and Guilin to Shenzen. ( Hong Kong border. ) These trains got us there, not usually on time, and they carry huge numbers of passengers. The second class bunks , once one navigates the little ladder, are actaully fairly comfortable once a fairly large person like me gets settled in them. Other than the diner, there is no lounge car, so one spends most of the time in these compartments during the day conversing with the other tour memebers, and we did converse with some great students, who were a pleasure to meet. These train go on through the day and the night, sometimes reversing direction rather inexplicably. Most of the stations are not that old, but very dreay places. The exception was Shanghai South station, which is like a modern circular airport terminal.
After I was so ill, I felt much better, but was not up to a second class sleeper for the final leg from Guilin to Shenzen. I stayed in my hotel to the last moment and was taken in a taxi driven by a cheerful Chinese girl about 20 miles Yangshuo, where I had stayed, back to Guilin and rejoined my group, which had gone off touring elsewhere. The first class sleeper was again fairly nice and comfortable, and fortunately the toilets were not an issue on the long ride to Shenzen, where we boarded a commuter train to Hong Kong ( Kowloon ) and a nice hotel. I actually enjoyed the last few days of what was a difficult trip, before United Airlines returned me to the U.S. I hope you found my description of Chinese trains enlightening - in many ways the service is pretty good. Frankly, I prefer Amtrak!
