July 31, 2007
Beijing (CHINA)
Saying Goodbye to Beijing and More Train Adventures
At
midnight I boarded a train for Shenzhen, the Chinese
city bordering Hong Kong, and said goodbye to the group
of Singaporean friends with whom I have stayed in
Beijing over the past couple of days. As can be seen
from the picture to the right, the Beijing train station
was packed to the brim with people, and there was a
touch of irony when Wai San stepped in gum (gum is
strictly outlawed in Singapore to prevent just this kind
of thing)!
This incident reminded me of the time I was waiting for a train in Shanghai, and a 10 year old girl pulled up her dress and squatted in the middle of the waiting aisle. "Kids will be kids," I thought, but when the mother stopped at helping the girl clean herself afterward I knew trouble was on the horizon. Sure enough, 20 minutes later the train began boarding and an entire train's worth of passengers walked unknowingly through the puddle of urine on the floor. Even though I was aware of this particular danger, I am sure there have been scores of incidents where I was the helpless victim. But it is best to take the good with the bad in China, and then it is easy to love every second!