Travelling China as a foreigner is about embracing the craziness. My overnight train journey from Xi’An to Chengdu is a template for a fun evening.
Step 1: Plan your trip badly
I had my luggage for 12 months of student exchange in a large suitcase to haul from Beijing to Hong Kong. Hauling it through China for 12 days really isn’t a good start.
Step 2: Book the most inconvenient train
When booking a train ticket, focusing exclusively on departure and arrival times is a bad move. Turns out there is a difference between “Xi’an”, “Xi’annan” and “Xi’anbei”.
Turns out that Xi’annan (Xi’an South) is 40 km from the city.
Step 3: Use public transport
Chinese public transport is a lucky dip. It can be world-class… and sometimes crawling to your destination will get you there faster.
Xi’an South Station was accessible only by 2 buses, making for a 2 hour trip and the last bus ran 4 hours before my train departed.
Step 4: Spectate a scuffle
A group of men start pushing and yelling at each other as they all try and get on the bus first.
I did wonder what the fuss was about when I got on last and there was plenty of seats left.
Step 5: Effortlessly inconvenience everyone on the bus…
… by partially blocking the rear bus door because it is the only place that my suitcase will fit.
Step 6: Make a Chinese friend
A young Chinese man swapped seats to sit next to me. The next 1.5 hours is consumed by me butchering as many Chinese phrases and I could muster while he complimented me on my language skills.
Step 7: Settle in at the station waiting area
If there is one….. Turns out Xi’Annan is a large shed. Google aptly describes the waiting area: “Parking lot in Xi’An, China.” I sat on my suitcase and started reading a book to kill time.
Step 8: Feel like a local celebrity…
…when Chinese children sneak up behind me while their parents surreptitiously take photos.
Step 9: Enter the station
Well in advance of departure, I enter the station (shed). Standing in the very crowded shed, I listen to station staff yelling through a megaphone for 20 minutes. There aren’t any departure boards and the clock ticks past the departure time. Am I in the right place? I exchange looks with the one other westerner in the shed. Our nervous smiles say it all: “What on earth is happening here?”
Step 10: Join in the stampede
When the gate to the platform finally opens, I join the huge crowd that rushes forward to get through the narrow entrance. It is ever person for themselves. I get knocked back by an elderly Chinese lady charging ahead – she knows the game.
Step 11: Wait in the next waiting area
Yes, there’s another one.
Step 12: Wait in the next waiting area
This one is in a tunnel!
Step 13: Jump onto the train
Finally I’m on the train platform. The train leaves 10 seconds after I get into my compartment. People are still on the platform. I guess they will be spending the night in the shed. I make friends with the 3 other people in my cabin. Charades really is a universal form of communication.
Step 14: Have some perspective
As I lay on my bed of a slow train juddering its way between two Chinese cities I had never heard of a year ago, I can’t help thinking that there is no where I’d rather be in that moment.
