I am currently sitting on a train in China, using Google docs in offline mode (Google gears). I really hope that it will update properly when I get back home to Dalian and plug it back into the internet. We (Miao, her Mother, and I) are on the way to Shenyang, hometown of family Wang, and incidently the provincial capital of Liaoning (province in the north east of China). I have finished my first semester teaching English in DUFL (Dalian University of Foreign Languages). It has been a rather interesting experience of employment of foreigners by China. I feel a little shocked by the significant attitude differences between UK and China teaching.
In Shenyang I hope to visit the “Forbidden Palace of the North” which is older even than the one in Beijing. We will also visit some relatives, and I hope to see the ones we didn’t get to see when I was here last. The thing I guess I will enjoy most will be the food, as the diet isn’t going to be strict here. Miao’s cousin wishes to come to Dalian to visit, and I’m guessing that she will come back with us when we leave Dalian, and stay at our house near the DUFL campus. with 4 people living there, I think it will be a little crampt, but should be fine for a shor time. I will finally get to go on some theme park rides with her cousin in Dalian, as Miao doesn’t like them and has always said “When Mei-Mei (literally meaning sister) comes you can go to theme park with her”. I will also be glad to see the 30 year old Whiskey that I gave Miao’s uncle, as it is very tastey.
The train will arrive in Shenyang at 3:08 and Miao’s mother has been giving me evil looks. The journey is smooth and relatively quick at 3 and a half hours. The top speed of the train seems quite slow 98kms/hr. In China you can choose what quality of train you go on, and has a direct relationship to the length of time it takes. This is the most expensive at 87rmb pp. At £5pp for a train with a similar level of quality as a British train, really is not bad. Seeing as a train from London to Liverpool costs at least £11 for a 2hr30 train journey, covering what I guess to be a similar distance. Tilting trains don’t seem to be an option on this part of the line. The only thing that i miss other than the speed (and tilting), is the lack of power sockets in the train. The entry onto the train was crazy, with 10 minutes until the train was supposed to leave, the hundreds of people waiting push though ticket stalls for the first time of 4 that your ticket will be checked. To then be jostled along towards the platform down some stairs. Huge groups of people push to get in through the train doors all trying to show their tickets to the guard to let them on, juggling their luggage. What only seemed like minutes, the carriage already looks full and there are no racks in the carriage for big luggage, only the overhead rails for small bags. Your ticket is checked for a third time when the train is moving, after the guard has pushed any loose bags and staps fully onto the overhead shelf. Thankfully this service is a direct service, so doesn’t need to stop again. The last time your ticket is checked, is leaving the station at the other end. It seems like a lot of effort to stop what must be a very small number of people who try to get a free train journey.
The train drivers cabin has huge windows at the back, that you can see into, and observe the man driving. But it also has shades that he pulls down every now and again. Miao felt that some of the landscape made her feel like she was travelling across Europe. The weather at the moment looks a little ominous, as its raining a little and looks like a light fog and low clouds. The sky is entirely grey. I hope it holds off until we can get out of the train station and into a taxi. The landscape now is littered with power lines and telephone cables, looking very ugly. I don’t know why they’re running two sets of power lines right next to each other, and why they cant take the comms cables on one set of pylons.
Alastair
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