Off to Guilin

Waiting in the train station

Sunrise next morning came our next episode of the trip. After breakfast at the hotel, which was really more of a normal meal with fried noodles and none of the breakfast foods we are used to, Amy’s father drove us to the nearby train station. I got to talk to him about the unique challenges of learning Chinese and the interesting role Wuhan plays as a Chinese domestic transportation hub (it is fairly well in the middle of China, almost equidistant to places like Shanghai, Xi’an, Guangzhou and Beijing in the East, West, South and North, respectively). The train station was built in attractive Hubei style (the province we were in) and services all kinds of trains, including the slower ones. Consequently, the train station looked like what you would expect a Chinese train station on holiday seasons to look like: packed with Chinese people. Unlike Nanjing, I did not see any other white people in the sea of black hair. Waiting for the train, I enjoyed a bowl of a traditional Wuhan breakfast food, “Hot Dry Noodles”. They taste like what they are called. I can believe Amy when she said that a lot of people hate them at first, before they love them.

Before long, we were on a train to, drumroll please, Guilin, the legendary karst mountain landscape area of China. We settled into our small soft sleeper train compartment. It felt like traveling in an age where trains were the main mode of transportation, and it made us feel like real adventurers. Before we knew it, the train took off.

Wuhan - Guilin

Train: K315

Departure: 9:16

Arrival: 23:08

***

The journey was long, as was expected. We had two roommates at the beginning, one fast asleep (he only woke up once to ask me if there was a limit on how many kids one could have in America) and another grumpy gentleman who, I believe I heard him say on the phone, had been on the train since the night before and was not due to arrive until the next morning. We were joined by two more gentlemen, who brought cards to play with our grumpy friend. One of them sat down on the bed Jenn was laying on and the playing began. 

We soon realized that they were gambling and begun to wonder about legality, as they made sure to quickly close the door. In the end, I believe our grumpy friend lost at least $100, in American money, which did not help him be less grumpy. The two newcomers had to explain the game to him a couple of times and left as soon as they had made their big win, so I am suspicious about their motives. In any case, they were very nice, we had a nice conversation (during which they asked me twice if I had a lot of money, which I denied vehemently) and we sadly had to witness our roommate being hustled out of quite a bit of money.

***

The countryside was pretty. It became clear to us that living in a country like the US, or Germany, is a privilege and that China, for the most part, is much less developed. We saw chickens chasing each other, fields with scarecrows, oxen pulled carts and many people working in rice fields. The towns looked quaint, but also old and run down.

The rest of the journey went by quite eventless. After falling asleep for a little bit, a lady rudely awakened us (not really, but I was sleeping so that was my feeling) and told us that our stop was coming up. About half an hour later, it did. 

***

We got off and discovered that even at 11:30 PM, the streets of Guilin are filled with people, all of them Asian though. After rejecting some taxi offers, and buying a bottle of water, we found the road our hotel was on and started walking. Passing many stands selling food and stepping over even more trash, we did find it. “Walking distance from the train station” was not a lie. Checking in was no problem, although the lady was surprised to note that we did not fly on from overseas but had in fact already been in China for over a month. While we were checking in, about three couples came in, asked for a room price and left in disgust when they had gotten an answer. Luckily, the price told is not what we are paying.
And that’s it for now. The room is good. We will have a great time.