| Blogs > swallowtsui > Hopping Swallow 鍋爐焰焰 |
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Taking Train in China 1 - when Train has not come This's an old train station in Zhaoqing, a city 1hr fm Guangzhou (Caton). Seems like one from 1980s Chinese movies. Very quiet, sunshine lights up the waiting room through an open roof. Only two lines of wooden bench sit ten sth passengers waiting for trip to Guizhou and Guangxi. They are mostly migrant workers heading home after CNY, each carrying big packages but chatting happily for the joy of going home. i like this station, feel of ancient, 1000 times cozier, than the noisy, pulluted Guangzhou station. Each time i travel by train i just come here. We see an ad. board w/indication of a VIP teahouse (says: w/fine music and tea) at the side door of the waiting room. We cross a tree yard and find it. Huh, just an empty arm-chair room w/ air con and two buzzing TV. I ask the wait lady if they provide tea. Nope, she replies, 5 yuan (RMB5) only we'll give u a bottle of mineral water. Where's fine music? No music, look, the excited beauty contest is going on TV, come and enjoy. She points to the hanging TV. A board here also tells us this teahouse is a legal operation for creating extra income to station workers. If you pay and stay here, you can board on train fm here. If it is quiet i wont mind sitting here. We retreat. The speaker broadcasts the arrival of our train. Led by a railway staff, a lady w/ seriuos face in uniform, passengers move out station one by one in a line. When approaching the yellow line, staff, separately standing in different positions, all w/ a speaker, will caution passengers of keeping away fm safety line and instruct passengers to gather in group for boarding based on their tickets' carriage no.. Well, a giant train, a long tailed powerful animal is going to arrive! Whistle, smoke, air flow, sound. It comes. I stand there embracing it. I even take a pic w/ it, showing myself as a true backpacker - orange jacket, jeans, scarf, most of all, a puffy nissan backpack. -Swallow, Feb. 3, 2006, Zhaoqing 
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Wild, The one mentioned here is not steam but diesel. True there are still a few steam trains running in China.
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