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Post by tyuti1668 on Nov 20, 2011 10:40:43 GMT -5
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 20, 2011 10:55:13 GMT -5
Strange it may seem, I can't read the Chinese mugenpower168 and tyuti1668 post here in China. I can't make any sense of it.
Day 12, 13 Nov.18 , 19 Catch the # 28 bus to the terminus for a connecting bus to Guangzhou. The fare is 33 RMB to GZ Station in about an hour. It is a huge spread for the bus and rail interchange. The big disappointment is I can't catch the first available train to Xian because Xian is an intermediate stop ( 21 hrs. is an intermediate stop!). My other choice is a later train at 1420, which also runs two hrs slower. What a blow! I feel so downcast that I want to go somewhere else like Guilin instead.
I pay the 401 RMB for a top bunk to Xian. It is a full train, no bottom bunk hard sleepers left. I want to inform the hostel of my amended arrival, but I don't have the phone number. No one can tell me where to go for a net cafe. Then, a man from nowhere appears who seems able to read my mind. He guides me by metro to an internet cafe, but I am not allow to use the facilities because I am a foreign passport holder. He talks his way to log in for me, then takes me back to the metro. It all seems too good. Then in the platform, he asks me for some foreign currency. Uhh uhh, he is making his move. But I can hardly refuse, and I think he is not going to try anything silly on the platform. I take out some Aust. bank notes but leave the 100 dollar bills out. He wants one twenty dollar bill which I oblige, and happy to accpet 100 RMB in exchange. I also see a $50 Aust bill, did he somehow snatch one out of my grasp? He initially refused my hospitality, now he asks if I would buy him a meal. I have only a 50 RMB small note, so I give it to him.
In all fairness, he did help me for about an hour,and then sees me to the station. He knows the working of the trains well because he said he works for the railway. The question remains; have I been taken for a ride? I am wary of smart operators, and always on guide. I am not so sure either way.
I am out of superlatives for China's railway and its stations. GZ Station is just a sea of people on this particular Saturday. All the waiting rooms and spaces are filled with people. My particular car of hard sleepers is completely filled. It is awkward in the top bunk. My notion of a romantic journey is taking a bit of battering.
The train left on time at 1630. It'd be hard for non-Chinese to understand the working because there is not much direction given in English. More tomorrow.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 21, 2011 4:50:12 GMT -5
The overnight trip I took with my daughter to Huangshan after the Expo. last year was great. The train was not even half full then. The top bunk now is rather hard to get on or off, and impossible to sit up. A broadcast asks if anyone had any 'flu tablets, so I present myself to the conductor in another car. My wife packed me Codral and Panadol capsules. I tell the female attendant the conditions of usage, and she cuts out two of each of day / night tablets for her passenger in need. I assure her the capsule packet is still sealed, and it's top quality because it is Australian-made. I make my way to the dining car. It is not well patronised because the food trolley is always on the move. There is very little choice and no menu in English for non-Chinese readers, I order two dishes, plus a serve of rice for 45 RMB. Lights out after 10pm, I wake up just before 3am. The trains stops at a station which I have no idea of because I didn't even know the route I was taking when I boarded. Even at that hour, hawkers with their wheelbarrows of food are working the platforms. It is the small things like this I observe that attracts me to China. The little people who battles on to make a living, the enterprising spirit that the Chinese are so well-known of overseas especially in the bad old days. The city is in fact Wuhan. Wuhan is the marriage of Wuchang and Hankou. Wuchang is in the spotlight because one hundred years ago the first shot in the last push to overthrow the Qing Dynasty started here. The train then crosses the Yangtze ( I am sure it is). The Yangtze and Yellow rivers remain a great fascination for me. I want more time to explore them. From then on it is alternating between a little sleeping time and gazing out the window up to daybreak. The train stops at some very well known historical cities like Zhengzhou and Luo Yang. One long stretch, I see dozens of squat and pencil-like chimney stacks belching smoke into the atmosphere. Together with cloud cover, the smoke pollution all but make sunlight impossible to penetrate. I can see different farming practices to the south, for example, corn is laid to dry on roof tops. I can also see what can only be cave dwellings along the way. Visual pollution is seen everywhere. Small heaps of rubbish with the ubiquitous plastic bags and food containers are everywhere you go in China. I wish people had more pride in their surrounds. The train journey is a learning experience after all. No regrets. I would certainly prefer a travelling companion. It takes just under 26 hrs to get to Xian. A little too long perhaps. Outside the station, the ancient city wall is in front of my eyes! I can't find the hostel rep. who is supposed to meet me. It is my mistake because the free pick up is for morning arrivals only. I walk around a few minutes, and eventually succumbed to a tout who offers to take me to the hostel for 50 RMB. A big mistake. If I had done my homework, I could do it for 2. The Shuyuan Hostel I check in is just great. www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g298557-d459793-Reviews-Shuyuan_Youth_Hostel-Xi_an_Shaanxi.html It has two small courtyards, a bar in the basement, a bistro, and great atmosphere. I book into a four person dorm at 50 / night, for three nights. It seems the locals are discovering the hostels. There are more Mandarin speakers than all others. I befriend a young English female backpacker and later her female companion at the internet desk ( 4 RMB / hr.). We eat out together, they appreciate my language skills with the menu. We do a little walk after our meal. It is another full days.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 22, 2011 3:35:15 GMT -5
Day 14 , Nov. 20 Today is the big day. I am joining a tour group to see what everyone coming to Xian wants to see: the terracotta warriors. I pay 220 RMB to join a group from the hostel. 110 of which is for transport, and an English speaking guide. There is only a young Romanian-German girl with me from the hostel. We pick up two Chinese Malaysian girls, a Colombian and a Dutch from another hostel. That is our group. I won't go into details of the site. They are available on the net and DVDs which I am sure most of you would have a good idea even if you had not been to the site already. Suffice it to say being there gives me a better perspective of the enormity of this huge archaeological discovery. It is money well spent. I urge you all to make an effort to see it before too long. I left this morning after an English breakfast ( 25 RMB ) at the hostel. When we get back to town, it is well after 3 PM. Some of us had not eating at all. We are famish and cold for there is also light rain falling. It is hard to agree on what to eat with this small group. The Chinese girls go on their own. I should have stayed with them, they are fluent in Mandarin and English, and much easier to get a consensus. Another mistake.
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Post by helen on Nov 22, 2011 4:19:54 GMT -5
Hi Douglas - good to read what's happening on your trip. My husband went to Xian last year and had a great time. waiting for the next update.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 23, 2011 1:46:17 GMT -5
Day !5, 21 Nov. Nothing is planned for today. The weather turns out to be fine, but too late to make plans to go to Huashan. Last night I was hoping to go with a roommate to hire a bike and ride around the old. city wall. But he disappeared. So I decide to go it alone. The entrance of the hostel faces the old city wall. I walk round to the other side, which is in fact a long corridor with the moat on one side and the wall the other. There, the place comes alive. There are people exercising, playing table tennis, and wait for it Buddhists chanting, and Christians singing hymns and giving out flyers. It is a hive of assorted activity. It is the king of things I love seeing. It is a long walk, eventually, the wall turns a 90 degree corner and heading in a different direction. They next cross crossroads is a busy street market. I can hardly understand a word of all the haggling going on. I keep walk on and meet two young people doing surveys. They stop me, and give me the best help anyone can ask for. It is obvious to them from my awful Mandarin that I am from elsewhere. It is the manner they are helping me that I am grateful for. I am thoroughly impressed. There is hope for China. Yesterday, my group ate at a Moslem place. I thought that was the Moslem quarters. Not so. I stumble on the real deal. What a sight to behold. There are shops and shops selling nuts, walnuts in particular, dried fruit, meat and spices. It is early morning still, I can see mutton and beef getting delivered to shops and restaurants. There are piles and piles of partly cooked ox liver, tripe, sheep shank and carcasses of animal. The little delivery trucks are grimy and grubby, offals and bones are laid on dirty floor, dozens of hands touch the meat on display. It is the most unhygienic condition imaginable. I guess if there is no toxin, high temperature cooking will kill off all germs. I am not afraid. My breakfast at a Moslem place consists of a warm soy milk, a savoury soy curd jelly, and a fried dough stick. The cost 4 RMB. I also try one of those fried stuffed persimmons for 2. I am fuelled up for more exploration on foot.I find the famed Drum Tower. The cost is 27 to go up have a look, and 10 more for an audio aid. I don't think it is worth it.I can't visit the Bell Tower because it is under renovation. I just can't find the entrance for the city wall walk. I walk and walk, and return to the Moslem quarters. Lunch is a serve of pull noodle done in front of me. No fuss, and for just 8. The fabled Mosque which eluded me is now in front of me. It is in a shocking state of neglect, but remedial work is going on. I must have walk at least six solid hours. Even at a snail's pace of 3 km/ hr. I would have done 18 km or more. I am feeling tied. Back in the hostel, a hot shower later, I work the keyboard. Suddenly, I feel a dizzy attack. I stop at once, go back to my bed have a good rest. An hour or so later I am still not feeling any better, and no appetite at all. I think I am going to need my Codral capsules. Not happy.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Nov 23, 2011 2:31:06 GMT -5
... keep walk on and meet two young people doing surveys. They stop me, and give me the best help anyone can ask for. It is obvious to them from my awful Mandarin that I am from elsewhere. It is the manner they are helping me that I am grateful for. I am thoroughly impressed. There is hope for China... "Shaanxi" speaker are REAL Han unlike those "mix" ... They easily master Sourhern "dialect" ;D tieba.baidu.com/p/741046729?pn=4
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 24, 2011 8:36:44 GMT -5
Day 16 , Nov 22 A very forgettable day. I spend the whole day in bed. I've got the runs. It must be the food I ate yesterday. A very miserable day. Later, I venture out to buy some patent medicine to easy the symptoms.It costs 9 RMB. I have only light meals in the hostel at 25 / meal. I feel it is safer for the time being to eat at the hostel. I am not as tough as I thought.
Last night I had the room to myself. In the afternoon, two young persons check in, one male and one female. They are both Australian university students from Tasmania. We get on well straightaway and agree to go to Huashan together tomorrow. I am determined to go no matter what.
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Post by Henry on Nov 24, 2011 12:04:56 GMT -5
Hi Douglas, I am so sorry to hear that you suffered through this episode. I always carry Imodium AD, which is a form of Loperamide: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoperamideWhen I travel in foreign countries - I do not eat any street food, but, I have also suffered from food eaten at restaurants and hotels. As you know, when on travel and alone - it is certainly no fun being sick and confined to a bed. I hope you are feeling better. Henry
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Post by helen on Nov 24, 2011 23:21:39 GMT -5
Last night I had the room to myself. In the afternoon, two young persons check in, one male and one female. They are both Australian university students from Tasmania. We get on well straightaway and agree to go to Huashan together tomorrow. I am determined to go no matter what. Have fun with your fellow travellers. sorry to hear that your stomach isn't as iron cast as you thought. I would eat street food if it were piping hot.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 25, 2011 4:58:53 GMT -5
Thanks to Henry and Helen for the words of wisdom and concern. I don't think I am going to be c-ocky the way before. Things can happen without warning. My wife didn't pack anything for such an emergency. Day 17 Nov. 23 All three of us slept past 7 in the morning. By the time we get underway and make our way to the railway station, it is well after 8. I know what to look for, the dedicated bus service to Huashan or Mt. Hua. The first bus leaves at 6:30 or supposedly. The bus we are boarding sits there waiting to be filled up. It finally gets underway at 9:16. Along the route of the two hour journey, we witness really appalling air pollution. Million RMB plus apartment blocks are built next to huge chimney stacks belching thick smoke 24 / 7. Roadhouses are common on highways in Nth. America and Australia. The ones I see today are huge. Th car transporters which carry two cars abreast, albeit small cars, is something I don't see back home. Some young local tourists on the bus are keen to know us better. We decide to stay with them because they are mounting the climb on foot. The first thing we do after getting off the bus is to have lunch. More mistakes, I order too much for my party, and it takes so much longer to prepare. All others finished before us. Lesson learned: stick to simple fare. Huashan is a Daoism holy site. The admission is 180 RMB, the low season fee at 100 comes in on Dec. 1. We pass through a series of temples dedicated to various deities. The evidence is clear of the damages done in the past. The way uphill is paved by granite slabs. A crystal clear mountain stream is always close by. The walk is strenuous, and unfortunately for me, I have to make frequent stops for toilet breaks. What a bummer. Our Aussie group is perhaps just over one-thirds of the way to the top that we have to turn back. The others are finding lodging down below. They push on. Just about every turn and every big rock has a folk story or legend attached to it. As I had my early childhood in Hong Kong, and nurtured by those stories from films and books, I do find the exercise relevant. I really miss seeing the peak that a dutiful and filial son who smashed the mountain to rescue his entrapped mother. It was a very moving story when I saw the film as a little boy. Then there is the peak where the swordsmen and kung fu masters met to decide who was master of the universe. This is of course the fabled Huashan Swordsmen's Forum. It is probably the creation of modern epic kung fu novel writers' creation. But it is becoming a major attraction. I want to see it too. Tyuti1668, please fill in the void in Chinese for those two Huashan highlights I just mentioned. But we just have to turn back. This is similar to my experience in climbing Huangshan last year when we did not make allowance to go up another level to see sunrise. Mistake not learned. There is more mistake to come. When we got off the bus in the morning I did not ask the conductor where the return trip pick up point is. We hope and wait for the best....until a bus driver obviously sees our helplessness. He toots and urges us to get on. The bus is going back to Xian, the shock to come is that the fare is 35 each. I protest that a dedicated tourist coach only charges 22, it can't be 35 ! 35 RMB it is, but the conductress pulls three tickets at 15 each. This has to be a rip-off, fleecing the tourists. She says she will issue supplementary tickets, which she does long minutes later. I still think it is daylight robbery, with some dummy tickets. We get back into a unfamiliar part of town after dark, all we want is just to get back o the hostel. Taxis are hard to find, after a little bargaining, we hop on a motorised tricycle for 25. It is a hairy ride by any definition. The driver is a dare-devil who squeezes into impossible spaces and calls the big vehicles bluff. I would not recommend it for the faint-hearted. Home at last, a hot shower, then a meal in the dining room, no more eating out for a while. That concludes the days activity. More lessons learned.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 26, 2011 6:50:28 GMT -5
Day 18, Nov. 24 At breakfast in the hostel, a fellow is keen to talk to me, he is very interested to know the outside world and try out his English. He tells me he comes from Tibet, and a serving member with the PLA posted there. He is not familiar with using knife and folk and wants me to show him how. For his fried eggs, he asks for soy sauce to go with them. I show him to use a salt shaker not sauce, how to spread butter, and it is OK to use his fingers.. He is very humble, never too proud to ask for help. He wants to join me for the old city wall walk. So we set off together. The cost for me is 40, and no charge to him with his PLA ID. All military personnel enjoy special privileges like priority windows at booking queues and waiting rooms. It is not hard to see the reason why.
The walk is 13.7 km long, and the entrance is very close to the hostel. The wall is quite wide, wide enough for four cars to travel abreast. It is a formidable defence in the past with a moat, steep banks, and many watchtowers from which archers fire their arrows as first line of defence. It is a sound fortification to ward off the barbarians.
The walk is on level ground. It takes 4 hrs and 10 mins. for us to complete, We both feel the tiredness. A good thing is my ailment seems to be abating.
The fellow from Tibet says he has been posted there for thirteen years. It is a hardship post as such he gets pay twice as much. There is no knowing when he gets a transfer call. If he is allow to be demobilised now, he is entitled to full pay for life, choose to live anywhere in China. He is barely over 40 years old. Any career change depends on connections. He has none. He says as an engineer with postgraduate qualifications, he is not in the armed units. But there is no chance to put his training into use. He would not mind return to civilian life and find a wife. The money he saved he spends on travelling China. As a serving PLA, he is not allowed to travel abroad unless on official duty, and not supposed to socialise with foreigners.
At night, the hostel comes alive. On Friday night there is a dumpling making party for the guests. The bar is always popular for the locals and guests. It is a very profitable business. There are other hostels on the same street, but only this one has the YHA accreditation logo.
I've my suspicion of the front office staff deliberately shortchange the customers.I hope I am wrong. I distinctly remember I did not get my change due after tendering a 100 RMB bill on two occasions. I blame it on my on clumsiness. I'll be more vigilant in future.
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Post by helen on Nov 26, 2011 19:08:05 GMT -5
Hi Douglas - life seems good for you - wish I had the time just to jump in there and go with the flow. The companions picked up on the way - serves as a lucky dip I guess. The man from Tibet sounds like he is caught between a rock and a hard place. Good on him for travelling around.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 28, 2011 5:43:45 GMT -5
Day 19, 26, Nov I must have my dates days mixed up. I simply lost track of time. It should now read 26th of November. Today, I am feeling much better and my appetite is returning. I set off again with my new found friend from Tibet. First, I want to have breakfast outside of the hostel. I go to KFC. KFC is big in China, much bigger than McDonald's. It adapts to the Chinese tastes. No, I am not having deep fried chicken but something Chinese. Then it is off to the railway station to buy a return ticket to Guangzhou. I have had enough of Xian for one visit. I even abandon the idea of going away for a two day side-trip to Huang Di Mausoleum. There are long queues at the ticket windows. Once again, I can't get the bottom or centre bunk. The railway must make squillions each year. Then I follow my friend to the so-called computer city for there is a few things which he couldn't buy in Lhasa. There are so many computer-related merchandise under the one roof the like of which I do not find in Sydney. That done, we have lunch. He orders an all vegetarian fare. The salad is spicy, and I am not quite sure what else I am eating. I am not even sure if I liked them. My friend very kindly pays for the meal. Then it is a visit to the Shaanxi History Museum just opposite. www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/provincial_museum/ Admission is free but ID is required to restrict unlimited entry. It is a magnificent display of the antiquities of the province which was the capital of fourteen dynasties. I think at one stage it was the world's biggest metropolis. Xi'an was at the head of the fabled Silk Road, it was at the crossroads of religion, trade, politics, and cultural exchanges. There is so much pre-historic and early dynasty priceless artifact on display. I find a small group, probably from Hong Kong, with a Cantonese-speaking guide. I stay with the group and benefit from a very informative guided tour. My companion is happy to spend more time at a special exhibition of historical exhibition staged by the Nara Prefecture from Japan. My new friend taught himself Japanese and fond of things Japanese. It is a place well worth a visit by all visitors. Next stop, the famous Big Goose Pagoda. There is a big square with large fountains leading to the Pagoda. It costs 50 to enter the precinct. From a close distance the 1,300 year old Pagoda is just magnificent. Then to my disgust, there is a further charge of 30 to get inside and climb it. It gets me hopping mad. This is dishonesty at its worst. I refuse to pay on principle. It is just unfair paying the equivalent of a day's pay of a typical worker's wage just to walk around the perimeter and visit the side attractions but not the Pagoda itself. It is an outrage. The Pagoda has to do with the spread of Buddhism in China. www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/bigwildgoose.htmXuanzang the Monk went to India for Buddhism scripture, so the story goes and the Pagoda has plenty to do to commemorate his return from India. Xuanzang is better known by the portrait of his exploits in the classic novel Trek West or better known by the TV show Monkey King. I like the gallery display of photos of the Pagoda taken in early last century. All around it was just farmland. Now, there are dozens of souvenir stalls, shops and restaurants. Most tourist sites are treated cash cows. I find this one particularly so. The one exception is Dr. Sun's birth place. I wish I had seen the Pagoda in simpler times. It is worth a visit to. For 50 you get to see a lot of Buddhism artifacts and idols. I am not sure they are from bygone years. Few things survived Mao. One exception is the Lama Temple in Beijing. See it you must, but think twice about paying twice. Then, it is time to go home. My friend is leaving for Gansu province later in the night. He has seen much of China. His sights are set far beyond the boundaries of one country, but he is tied down by his vocation.
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Post by douglaslam on Nov 29, 2011 7:37:12 GMT -5
Days 20, 21 Nov. 27, 28 I am leaving Xi'an today 27 th. My whole experience in Xi'an is one of discovery rather than a lay-back relaxing one. Xi'an was never meant to be a resort for me. I check out at about 7:30 in the morning, walk the ten min. or so to the bus stop for a 1 RMB bus ride to the station. At the station, passengers are already boarding the train. I queue up and the line snakes its way to the train. It is a full train, I can see there are standing room passengers in the hard seat cars. The distance to Guangzhou is 2,116 km. Scheduled journey time is about 26 hrs, but it invariably runs late and the fare for a hard bed top bunk is 401 RMB. The whole train line is electrified. I can see large numbers of passenger and freight trains coming from the opposite direction. We make frequent stops for faster trains to pass. The line must have reached its capacity or saturation point. Such is the impression I get just by looking out the window. The train leaves at 0835, it is uneventful enough. There is a group of about six or seven Cantonese speakers close by. They are all middle age or older. Like most Cantonese, they do make plenty of noise in their card game. Every six-berth hard bed compartment has a TV monitor which plays DVDs or broadcasts announcements. Jackie Chan appears often pleading with people not to use tiger products. No buying or selling, then there is no killing is the message. Less often seen ,is celebrity Yao Ming and an unknown (to me) female also ask people stop eating shark fin. The message is graphic, showing how brutal the way shark fins are cut from sharks alive, and then put back into the water to die a slow, certain death. There are people in China care enough to speak out against killing endangered wildlife. It is unfair for some environmental groups to vilify the Chinese solely in the shark fin trade when many S.E. Asian countries do engage in the activity. It is a wrong approach and it can backfire. A railway carriage is a microcosm of China. I observe many of the passengers who are representative of the post-Mao era China. There is the young mother, a Xi'an woman who came to work in Guangdong and married a Cantonese, with her infant child returning to Guangzhou (GZ) after a home visit. A group of middle class people from GZ returning after a week of sightseeing like me. Then, on the top bunk opposite mine, there is the travelling company representative in his late 30s, who has travelled to just about every part of China except Tibet. Down in one of the bottom bunks is a man from Xi'an who now calls GZ home. He, a former PLA, is a few months older than me, a.very friendly and open person. I can only have a conversation with him in broken Mandarin. The conversation invariably leads to what I do for a living. I always try to hide my overseas background by passing as one of the boys. I concoct a convincing story telling the Xi'an man that from the outset of the opening up of the economy I was engaged in small time trading. I lie to him how I was involved in small time import of consumer goods such as motorcycles, old cars for taxis and used consumer electrics from Hong Kong. I never hit the big time because I didn't have connections, capital backing or the derring-do to hit hard. He empathises with me. It is a credible story and my acting is convincing. Perhaps I should feel ashamed for lying to a genuinely trusting new acquaintance. If I revealed my true identity, then the people won't open themselves up to me. They become more guarded, they'd want to know the kind of money I pull in and ask questions I'd find difficult to answer. I even tell them I stayed in a cheap hostel amongst foreigners. They are truly amazed that a non-English speaking aging man mixing it with backpackers. Throughout the long journey, I resist taking out my big paperback biography of American Prometheus J. Robert Oppenheimer to read. It would blow my cover. I just quietly contemplate what life might have been for me if I had never left China. I could have been anyone of those older fellow travellers. This is my parallel universe. The train is making frequent stops throughout the night because we are well behind schedule by the time we get to the part of Hunan province not far from Guangdong the next morning, At one point we stopped for well over an hour. There are no announcements made, and everyone is in the dark. I share their frustration, but they accept that as a fact of life in China. No bad display of tantrum. In fact during this period and the time leading to GZ station, I am the centre of conversation. People think I am doing well for a country bumpkin who can hardly make himself understood in Mandarin, going out to see the country alone. They want to know where I am off to next. At last, we are pulling into GZ Station, by the time I step out of the station, it is exactly 30 hours since I left Xi'an Station, four hours behind schedule. GZ is markedly warmer than Xi'an, a T-shirt will do nicely. Less than ten minutes and 48 RMB later, I am on the bus for Chungshan. From the Chungshan bus terminus, another 2 on the route bus, I am back in the village. It is a homecoming feeling. I also find my wad of RMB notes is getting smaller. I may have to call on my reserve of Australian dollars to see me through.
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