Train tribulations

We just purchased onward tickets from Beijing to Chengdu (in central China). We intentionally purchased them 8 days in advance in order to ensure that we would not be on a hard seat for the 27 hour journey. So far 3 of our 4 day day long (at least 20 hour) journeys have been on hard seats, and at the end of every ride we swear to each other that we will never do the hard seats again. But each subsequent visit to the ticket counter, we discover that those are the only tickets available. The hard and soft sleeper tickets disappear immediately at this time of year when the Chinese take to the rails to move about the country. My fear is that our ride will be similar to our worst train trip yet on this journey (India included!) Even with reserved tickets, we found ourselves crammed into the seats of an overflowing car. A trip to the bathroom meant you lost your seat and would have to fight your way back into it. The aisle was so crowded that you were climbing over and squeezing past people, hoping you wouldn’t step on anyone, that the trip to the bathroom hardly seemed worth it! My breaking point was when everyone jumped off the train at a stop to buy drumsticks on the platform. Slurping the meat off the bones, while spitting small bones and cartilage into the already cramped aisle. The fellow across from Tim used the seat cover to wipe his hands and mouth clean. When we climbed off the train our ankles were huge and swollen from not moving for countless hours, and we found ourselves to be more sore than many of our hiking days in Nepal! Every train ride we have taken has been completely different and we haven't a clue what to expect, since we have had our nicest, most comfortable rides here...and our longest, most dreadful ones also. But, we are learning the ropes and board with tea and ramen noodles in hand, as all the trains have hot water dispensers. We just follow suit of the other travelers and add some of our own snacks that always amuse our seat mates. (Who would have thought that oatmeal was SO strange??) As always, it's an adventure and we keep returning for more.

Table etiquette

Mouth noises have always been a pet peeve of mine. When I was younger, I would get up from the dinner table and turn on the stereo (or if it was already on, I would turn it up) to drown out the mouth noises of my family. And I should clarify here…they weren’t smacking their lips or slurping their food, it was actually just the sounds of chewing through closed lips that I couldn’t handle. And now that I find myself in a lip smacking, noodle slurping haven, I am doing everything I can to deal with this little issue of mine. BUT, I don’t think I am making much progress. I’ve actually resorted to plugging my ears or humming tunes while being stuck with a cacophony of slurps and smacks while in cramped quarters. There are always some cultural differences that you struggle to get past…and I suppose this is mine.

China on the move

Most of our time here in China so far has been spent in her large cities with their dense populations. And on top of the dense populations, we find ourselves time and again in the midst of throngs of Chinese tourists. I’m not sure that ‘throngs’ can evenly properly describe the immense quantities of tourists moving around their country, further crowding the cities. We have had very little luck getting train tickets as tickets disappear quickly during the summer months when much of China is vacationing. The lanes around the tourist sights are teeming with large tour groups turning the street into a sea of umbrellas as everyone tries to escape the brutal sun. (We have also become big advocates of the multi-purpose umbrellas, and often find ourselves hiding from the sun). It has been fascinating to witness just what a big business Chinese tourism is becoming, but it can make for an exhausting day exploring a site when you are being jostled around by sweaty bodies trying to keep up with their guide, whose voice is blaring through a megaphone.

Starting the day out right

Part of our routine here in China has been participating in the morning exercise routine at local parks. It all started one when we went to a park for a morning jog and discovered throngs of people out doing their daily exercises. Predominantly and older, retired crowd was out stretching and working out. We have witnessed just about every standard stretch and exercise you can imagine…and then a plethora of activities we have never even seen before, creating a pulsing, congested park unlike I have ever witnessed anywhere before. Groups moving in (nearly) synchronized fashion through slow methodical tai chi postures….individuals slapping their legs and arms masochistically to increase circulation….badmitton birdies zinging back and forth over the pathways….concentrated dancers counting under their breath with focused steps following the tunes blaring out of a small boombox….other groups incorporating props into their dances or tai chi, fan fluttering and swords slicing through the thick air….old men climbing out of their wheel chairs to hang from the pull up bar next to their younger counterparts doing full on gymnastics…. And besides the exercise activites, we encounter small groups huddled around tables of cards, Chinese Chess, and Mah Jong. Clearly a spectator sport, large crowds form around the most rousing games. Groups perform wild, whirring feats with their Chinese yo-yos and kites. Men bring their caged birds to sections of the park, hanging the cages from the trees, chattering amongst themselves along the park benches while the birds chatter amongst the tree limbs. Tim joins into the games of hacky sack, often with a group at least twice his age. It feels like you are in the quintessential retirement community, minus the infrastructure. We tend to amuse the regulars when we join in on the morning park activities, and our experiences have been some of our most memorable here in China.