Traveling China by train? Pack a sense of humor.

Beijing to Chengdu, CHINA – Last night Mianzhu in Sichuan province shook from an earthquake of 5.2 on the Richter scale. Because of the earthquake, our train stops often and we are told the railroads are damaged. Thirty minutes outside of Mianyang we stall for over an hour and some passengers complain we should at least reach the next station before stopping rather than having our train sit in the middle of Green Acre(s) nowhere. I ask my assistant, Gaojia, whether an alternate form of transportation would pick up passengers in the event the train stopped for good – Negative.

Gaojia recollects the blizzard of 2008 in China that left people stranded on the trains and food prices were hiked up to 400% or more; a criminal lift in RMB especially for those who took trains as an economic choice. Gaojia just ate the last “plastic patê” meat stick. I’ll persevere.

4 hours later…

For dinner I tried a bowl of crudely cut cold noodles in garlic and hot chili oil. It’s called Xiangxin Liangfen, Sad Cold Noodles; noodles so spicy they’ll make you cry. I haven’t yet shed a tear. Maybe I will during the aftermath.

Waiting in an overly crowded waiting room to board the train for Yibin, I make a last stop to the restroom. Porcelain toilets aren’t a fixture in this water closet. One long trough for 12 ladies to fall in single file and straddle is to my relief partitioned by walls, although doors sold separately were never purchased.

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