Life on the slow train: no seat, no problem!

Sinead and I kicked off our weekend travelling in China with a trip to Tai'An. We set out on a Friday after school to take a cab to the train station for a 4 pm bullet train. We waited and waited and waited for the normal stream of cabs. None arrived. A false start. The plan was officially postponed. We proceded to meet our teacher friends for and evening of beer and street meat and vowed to do better the next morning. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed we awoke and met at 7:30 am. Keep in mind that with the first class starting at 7 am, this is now considered sleeping in.

Pleased with our successful pronunciation of 'train station' in Chinese (which I have now forgotten), we arrived at the ticket line. Of course, we were extremely confused by the line ups and the billboards and quickly realized, that left to our own devices, we would never make it to Tai'An. We asked the first people we saw for some help. Luckily for us, it was a lovely and exceedingly helpful couple from Weifang and Qindao who were more than happy to assist the confused foreigners. They looked up the schedule, bought our tickets, found us a snack store, brought us to the gates, and wished us luck. The luck was because, having arrived later on the scene, we missed the bullet train (2 hour trip) and had to take the slow train (4 hour trip). Also, we missed the seats. So, a four hour train ride without seats.  I was still pretty jazzed to go on my very first train ride ever! (I'm not counting that skytrain nonsense we have in Canada.)

On board our first Chinese train, we found that people were super friendly. And super happy to play musical chairs with us. And super happy to squish over so that we could fit our big Western asses on their seats. It was friendly. We practiced some Chinese, ate our snacks, drank tea, and laughed a lot about both our inability to pronounce words and our immense differences in size.

Crammed onto the train- and, it's my turn to stand. This is good for both a good leg stretch, and it gives my fellow passengers a chance to get a good stare. It also signals to the cabin population that if you're feeling it, there's now and opportunity to squeeze your way through and practice your English. 

I think this lady was actually half my size. This is when I learned the word for tall; 'gao' I'm not sure if it's correct, but I now like to throw that one in when I say where I am from: "Wo shi Jianadren gao." Perhaps that means: "I am a giant Canadian." Either that or "I am a Canadian dog." It all depends on the tones. 

We did book the bullet train back. (When I say "we" I mean the lovely couple we met in Weifang.) The combination of seating and speed was impressive. But, I have to say, the ride there definitely felt a lot more like travelling. Way better people watching and meeting opportunities and the suspense of not knowing when or how long you would be able to sit down definitely added a component of adventure!  Also, it provided us with a change to get snuggly with strangers in a way that seems to be completely normal here but would creep people out back in Canada. All in all, I think the slow train and no seat combo was a great way to kick off our Chinese train experiences because it set the bar a bit lower than a quick, clean, spacious bullet with a guaranteed seat. 

P.S. I just read this article today about riding trains in China. I have to say, that in my limited experience, I think he hits the nail on the head. And he is just a wee bit more eloquent than me: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/destinations/in-china-people-dont-just-ride-a-train---they-live-it/article4266256/