Day 4 in China; Part IV: And that's a wrap

Time to make it back to the railroad. One of the interesting things is how many people have taken my picture. I don't think I look that odd...do I?

When I posed for this picture, there were a whole bunch of Chinese people that wanted to take my picture and get their picture with me. It’s a lot of fun.

Here’s my driver. Figured I could at least get a picture of him to memorialize my trip. We head back to the railway station to wait the train. We exchange phone numbers and I get out. Total damage, 138 RMB or ¥138 which is $9.20 USD. Wow!

I get something to drink (0.5L Sprite for ¥3.5 or 52¢. As I’m sitting here I walk around a bit, but I stick out so I sit to observe. It’s interesting how just sitting with the locals allows me to disappear into the background. KFC is big here.

Now I am recounting a situuation I debated for several days as to whether I should discuss this or let it pass. I decided to discuss it. I was approached by a beggar woman. ‘No.’ I shake my head. She persists. No. Shake my head. Persists. No. Persists. This woman won’t give up. I lower my head. She knees down in front of me. I think about getting up and walking away. No. Shake my head. She persists. She won’t stop….

My pain was her poverty. I also know, she is in the business to beg. I was singled out for the full court press. Why? I’m white…duh! She is good at her business. For me, the pain could have gone away for ¥1 ($0.15). I still wrestle with this. I had many a conversation with my colleagues on this trip after that encounter. One friend, Ravi has an interesting point of view. He is from India. Our conversation on the subject has haunted me:
“You feel moved, right?” he asked.
“Yes.” I respond quickly and firmly. “I could have easily given her ¥1.”
“When she left you, did she continue begging down the row?”
“Yes.”
“Did they give her any money?”

"No."
“You know it’s a business, right. They know it. You know it down inside.”
I know he’s right.
“Are you moved enough to bring her home to feed her, to clothe her?”
Sigh………..
Okay, so when Jesus said, “You will always have the poor with you.” Was he talking to me about this moment? How about next time? What about the rest of my life? A moment in time, I will reflect on for my life.

I spent a portion of my time decoding my ticket. It appears there is a car identified on the ticket and a seat on that car.

Thirty minutes before I have to leave I make my way to the waiting room. I am on car 11, seat 1…I think. I use the toilet. A very interesting experience (sorry, no photos). You stand up on a stainless steel walkway in front of a stainless steel panel and drain. There is cold water to wash your hands, but no paper or electric dryer. Just don’t shake anyone’s hand for a while.

The train is called. A sea of people move to the gate. There is no pushing per se, just close. You move with the crowd. This picture just doesn't do the scene justice. Personal space in China is nonexistent. No one is overly concerned or pushy, we just have to put 16 cars of people with 60 people on each car (960 people) onto the track so we are ready to board the instant the train arrives. This is great practice for the Amazing Race. I wonder if Phil is watching my blog?


As I arrive at the track, there are numbers for each car. You stand in line at your number. I am in car 11, so I stand behind the 11.

The air is nice and cool, there is construction for a new station (I think) or something very large. I have never seen so much scaffolding in a single city in my life. The expensive jobs use steel scaffolding and the less expensive ones use bamboo. If you fell, it would take weeks for you to bounce off of all the bars and finally hit the ground the webbing of the scaffolding is soooooo tight. There are five huge cantilever cranes in the background on this job. I made the right decision to take this trip. I wish I would have planned better so I could see more. I am glad I didn’t plan better or I would have missed the adventure.

Everyone in this country has uniforms. It can be a bit scary if you are intimidated by uniforms. But I mean EVERYONE. Why? They don’t have to clean those clothes. The company, or government, or business cleans them. Makes sense. The train employee uniforms are very nice. Sharp looking!

(A movie goes here, but they don't seem to load good in China. Hopefully you can see this one!)

The train arrives. We board. We’re off. This is a very efficient operation. Several hundred people got off. We boarded. Almost 1,000 people are on their way. The train is clean, quiet, very comfortable with foot rests and tables. There are restrooms on the odd-numbered cars.
Along the ride we pass fishing villages, farms and construction. It appears they build temporary housing for workers on the construction. They are building something along the rail tracks. Either road or a mag train. Not sure. It’s getting dark now, and I will get back to the railroad station after sunset.

We stop at Kunshan station. People get off. People get on. Everyone has a seat. Very efficient operation. The people on the train are very subdued. There is a light chatter, but very quiet. I have noticed this on a lot of the transportation systems in China. I think the phrase ‘loud Americans’ applies here. A well dressed lady with a cart travels down the spacious aisle. She is selling goods from her cart, talking as she walks. I surmise she is saying “Something to drink? Something to eat?” She stops at my seat, removes a coke and says something. I smile, shake my head no, she smiles back and is off. I am thinking she did this because A…I don’t understand what is transpiring as she walks down the aisle so she is going to give me a chance, or B…figures I would buy seeing as no one else does. I’m going with option A.

Don’t these people know they are in communist China, and their life is bad, and they have no future, and their political rulers are corrupt, and they don’t all speak the same language in this country? (Sound like anywhere else?)

At 210km/hr two uniformed young ladies come through collecting trash. My set mate texts a message. Back to reading her magazine. I glance a look….LIKE I COULD READ WHAT IT SAYS! At least the pictures are nice. The train stops…Shanghai? Nope, cattle…HA HA. I don’t know.

A few more minutes and we are in Shanghai.

I exit the station, get a cab and make my way to Karaoke night with the class. It was a good day. I'm home.