Beijing – Matthew Woodward

From Beijing to Lhasa on the Z21

Matthew Woodward — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 10:50:00 +0000

If you have followed my blog on some of my other Chinese adventures you will know that I’m not a big fan of Beijing West railway station. Once you have managed to get into the place, the design is based around a number of huge waiting rooms. I don’t think “waiting room” describes it very well though. “Shouting Room”, “Spitting Room” or “Standing Room” would all all be better descriptions in my experience.I showed my ticket to a couple of guards and they concluded between themselves that my best shot was to hang around ticket check no. 4, where my train would board after a delayed train to Xian. At this station where you wait for your train has no bearing on your platform. You might wait in room number 1, go through ticket check no. 4 and then board on platform 9. All the announcements are in Chinese and make little sense, so I would advise that you use my “river” technique – get swept towards your intended gate by the crowd for the train departing before yours, and then pull out of the scrum right by the gates pretending you thought it was your train. Once there you shrug your shoulders point at your ticket and have no where to go – but you are then in poll position and have access to a guard on the gate to talk to prior to boarding on your train. This is the Chinese railway equivalent to “Speedy Boarding”.Getting on the train itself is straightforward enough and it’s not long before music plays on the platform and we pull out of Beijing West platform 4, bang on time.

For this trip I am in carriage No 5, and one of the best things about it is that is coupled directly with the restaurant car next door. The carriage is “Soft” class, which is made up of eight four berth compartments. It seems mainly full of Chinese couples headed for a short break to Tibet. The atmosphere is actually quite nice, as for now the shouters and the spitters are mostly back in second class hard as far as I can see.At the end of the carriage is a samovar. It’s a fully fitted one, not like the exposed polished boilers that you find on Russian trains. It’s very popular and there is an orderly a queue of passengers (as orderly as it’s possible to have on a Chinese train) waiting to make their instant noodles. In case you are interested, I can report that Chinese instant noodles are considerably more sophisticated than those that can be found in the U.K. Inside the carton there are a series of packets that need to be added in just the right order. Some patience is required, and you can’t just dive in like a student back from the pub on a Friday night.

I’m pleased I bothered to bring my Crocs in my daypack, as there is very much a “wet” environment at one end of the carriage. There are three sinks in an open plan bathroom, next to two toilets, one squat, one western. The area is part flooded and seems multi purpose. For some it’s for vegetable preparation, for others it’s for waste disposal. All I want to do is brush my teeth and get far away as quickly as possible.

On the subject of luggage, my latest strategy has paid off. As my big bag is soft sided, it can be squeezed into the roof space which is quite deep in this carriage (not all are like this). The trick is not to have to get anything out of it during the journey, so all the kit I will need access to is already in my daypack. I have been allocated one of the the top bunks in the compartment and I wish I had completed a mountain climbing refresher course before setting out. I clearly don’t yet have the technique required. The first step seems far too low and there is no rope to pull on to get up and onto the bunk. I have developed a technique, but it involves perching on both upper bunks with my knees, like parallel bars. I think this scares a girl called Jenny in the other upper bunk as she is not sure of my intentions. If only I could tell her in Chinese that they are purely honourable, and simply to remain up here without falling into the abyss.
Once up in the berth it’s pretty comfy, with a small TV (not working), air conditioning (working), and a place to plug in my own oxygen mask (not yet working).
The restaurant carriage is busy. Inside it is a lively mix of off duty police and slightly drunk and shouty passengers. It has beer of sorts – Chinese Budweiser for 10 RMB (£1). The bottles are not cooled though, just out of a cardboard case stacked on the floor at one end of the carriage. This is probably a blessing in disguise, as I should not be drinking – I started taking my diamox this morning and I need to get hydrated. But I have about 30 hours until we start getting up to serious altitude, so allow myself a beer to celebrate having Beijing West behind me.

I have been given a special card to prove that I am a legitimate passenger on the train. They take your ticket and give you this instead after you board. Mine is a gold one, so I wave it at the staff in case it’s going to get me into some sort of special lounge, but I haven’t found this yet. Or the executive washroom.Time to turn in for the night and see if I can grab some low altitude rest.

The Scorpion King

Matthew Woodward — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 05:20:00 +0000

I woke to a distinctly strange sensation. I wasn’t sure quite what it was at first. Then I got it. It was one of stillness and a total lack of movement in any direction. I reached for my clock to find out what the time was, but it wasn’t on the table next to my berth. In fact there was then a further incomprehensible discovery. There seemed to be no edges to my bed at all – it stretched on and on in all directions, well beyond the dimensions of my compartment. It took my brain about 30 seconds to wake from a deep sleep and realise I was in fact now in a Beijing hotel bedroom.

I haven’t tried to do too much on this stopover. Although I thought I was resting well on the train I clearly wasn’t getting the full amount of sleep as it took about 24 hours of mainly bed rest to get my full strength back.

A courier has delivered some of my tickets, including my next leg from Beijing to Lhasa. What is of some concern to me though is that I have no ticket out of Lhasa. It takes a few email exchanges with Moscow to discover that more than one local ticket agent has been used. So for now I have just a one way ticket to Lhasa and a photocopy of my Tibet permit. I hope this is enough to get on the train. My ticket is actually issued to a Mr “Matthew”. Whilst this would not work back home, in Chinese there may be some confusion about my family name, and my plan is now reliant upon this.

I have been enjoying much dim sum and crispy duck here. So much in fact that I had a message from hotel reception yesterday morning questioning my ability to settle my room account. After two weeks on the rails I think I’m due a bit of a splurge.

I reached a bit of a low point yesterday when I thought that every person in Beijing must be trying to separate me from my cash. But just when you think everyone is against you, you meet someone very kind and from an unexpected quarter.

In this case it is a bug chef in Wangfujing, the road famous for exotic snacks. He cooks the full range of scorpions, worms, star fish, and grubs. No Tarantulas are for sale, but I can make up for that in a few weeks time. He refuses to take any money from me and insists on sharing his wares and even taking my photograph.

Christmas dinner, hutong style

Matthew Woodward — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 11:09:00 +0000

I have been on R&R in Beijing over Christmas. Its a strange time with modern China getting in on the commercial side without really understanding its meaning. That said, I’m happy to be here, and I love the place. The main downside here to me is access to my blog and Twitter is blocked by the government, so I now have two weeks of travel news to update you on when I reach Hanoi. Other than that the only other mild annoyance is the large number of well polished scammers that target Westerners everywhere with a brilliant story about their art class or a tea ceremony in great English. It is hard not to be taken in, as they seem so plausible. I got approached twice today, but managed to stop myself both times and say “hang on..”

I woke up this morning seriously smelling of sheep, to be more specific, spit roast lamb. I feel like I ingested a whole one last night with Paul (of carriage 6 fame). He had identified a place buried deep in the hutongs that specialised in this. The only problem was finding it.. In the end we took a strange moped taxi (a sort of “Hong Kong Phooey” mobile) which provided much entertainment weaving through gaps in the traffic and backstreets delivering us to the door of Tan Hua Lamb BBQ. What a meal, and it cost just a couple of hundred Yuan. It helps if you have some butchery skills, but even if you don’t, after a while they take pity on you and take a cleaver to the joint!

I have the tickets for my next leg – Beijing – Hanoi. it’s slightly bizarre in that in line with international train ticket conventions the languages on the ticket are Russian, German and Chinese – so quite hard for an Englishman to get his teeth into. All looks in order, and I even managed to get into Beijing West railway station yesterday for a quick recce – pleased I did as I now understand where I’m going.. Not sure how comfy this leg is going to be as I’m sharing a four berth soft sleeper with any other passengers mad enough to take a slow train across China in three days, when they now have high speed lines that can get you to Hong Kong in just eight hours.

Think that’s all for now – I’m off to have my feet seen to after two weeks pumelling them in my big boots in the snow and ice… Oh, one other thing. I have found two bolts in my luggage from my Trans-Mong window. I feel a bit guilty about that, and hope they will be able to fix it okay. I’m wondering if I might have left it close to actually falling off as I think I unbolted the whole frame by mistake.

Beijing

Matthew Woodward — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 11:08:00 +0000

Distance travelled so far: 9336 km. Distance left to go to Singapore: 9152 km

Final morning on the train before we arrive at Beijing.

Time for a rather early lunch in the Chinese restaurant carriage, and then some packing and exchanging plans with fellow travellers.

No idea why, but lunch is strictly served between 10.30 and 11.30 this morning. No menu as such, but all quite friendly and efficient. As seems to be normal in a Chinese restaurant car, a policeman is on hand to prevent possible noodle theft and black market exchanges of meal coupons!

The scenery is totally different today – the railway line passes through massive gorges with frozen rivers and tunnels cut through the mountains for the final couple of hours as it winds towards its final destination.

Time for me to reflect on the journey so far – did I really just do that?! I have covered just over half the distance of my mission in just 13 days, including my stops in Warsaw and Moscow. The Trans-Mong is at times fun, at times a bit of a strain, but rich in amazing experiences and people. The cumulative effect of two weeks on the move in the cold outside and the unrelenting heat on board the train has left me a bit tired and shell shocked, but I have three days R&R now to get myself into shape for my second tour of duty – almost literally, as I’m bound for Vietnam on Thursday on the twice weekly express service from Beijing to Hanoi (the train known as the “T5”).. assuming someone here has my tickets. All I can think of right now though is a very very long hot shower!

Peking duck

Matthew Woodward — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Distance so far: 11,112 km, distance to go: 1,318 km. -10 C, dry & sunny.

I know you don’t need a “tourist diary” from me in Beijing, but I do have a couple of updates as I down tools (or should that be “trains”?) for Christmas. First of all, for the record, my Christmas dinner – a rather special whole duck carefully prepared at Da Dong, suppliers of the best Peking duck in the city. (No Christmas pudding, but you can’t have everything!).

Leaving the train and getting back into civilised living is an odd experience. Once I left the platform at Beijing Central I was met by a man from my hotel with a limo, cold towels and a freshly pressed English language newspaper. It was only then I realised how grubby and disheveled I had become over the past two weeks. For the first time in my life I felt the need to apologise for my appearance once I got to my hotel..

My hotel (The Kerry) have been great and the head concierge (Chris) had everything organised for my arrival. So over the last day I have been getting used to the splendours of running hot water, room service, a computer controlled toilet (which is a bit scary after the facilities on the train), and living in a room which has a bed alone that is bigger than my whole compartment from Moscow.

My baggage is now much lighter – no need for emergency rations, wine, coffee, wet wipes or toilet rolls. If I were going back Westbound next week I would not take as much again, but I wasn’t to know, and although I was never a Boy Scout, I don’t like to be under prepared. Also like most people who have done the trip will tell you, I have read less than two books on the whole journey so far – no time to read with so much going on!

For the record, I’m still coming to terms with how much Beijing has changed since I was last here just over 20 years ago. Where did all these people come from? The scale of the investment in Chinese infrastructure will be clear when I share my next leg with you – to Shanghai on the fastest conventional train in the world*.

* train anorak debate – this is a past record also of a special French TGV at full stretch, but I understand the Chinese G trains are not running at full speed, either to save electricity or minimise the risk of a crash..

Bye for now!

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Beijing

Matthew Woodward — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 01:06:00 +0000

Distance so far: 11112 km, -10 C, sunny, GMT +8

Another good night’s sleep – I woke to the feeling of the brakes and fearing a “Crazy Ivan” as we pulled into Datong, our penultimate stop (bang on time). Not much to see on the platform or indeed the station, which was devoid of human life apart from of course about 20 guards from our train standing alongside their carriages. They were supervised as normal by our “C in C” and “RSM”, who clearly are now preparing for passing out parade at Sandhurst wearing their best dress uniforms.

I didn’t make it to breakfast (a shame, as it was free) but met up with some of the others for brunch in the new Chinese restaurant car. It’s different again, and not quite what I expected or ad hoped for. As you walk in you are actually greeted and semi directed to a table. We were served chicken balls (not chicken testicles, but chicken meat in dollops, so to speak) with rice and vegetables, which arrived about 30 seconds after sitting down. I didn’t see a menu – I think this was very much the only “dish of the day”.

The carriage was cold but otherwise comfy. Our brunch was supervised by a policeman – I’m not sure if there was the possible risk of any noodle theft going on, but I felt safer knowing that he was there looking after me and my lunch.

As well as Stephan and Ceyda not enjoying their lunch above, here is Christina and Anna from Finland, who were also on the train for the whole distance from Moscow.

And also a couple of Germans from Munich (I’m sorry that I don’t know their names) who joined the train in UB. I understand from Stephan that they are on their way overland to the challenge of the normally closed China/Burma land border. Hard core!

I spent the morning packing up whilst looking at the amazing views of mountains and gorges between the tunnels as we approach Beijing.

Guard A and Guard B have spent the morning preparing the carriage and cleaning various bits of the train. They seem happy enough – Guard B says that they have three days leave before heading back to Moscow on train 003.

Here’s the final shot for this leg – the Trans-Sib train at Beijing Central railway station today. I felt a quite a connection and really was sad to leave it, having lived as part of it for so long.

I have four days R&R now before travelling on the train to Shanghai for the weekend.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad