With the celebrations of the national holiday China that coincided with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, I was free from the grasps of Chinese language school for a week. So I picked up with a few others and went to China’s Henan province by train.
Most of us thought the 16.5-hour overnight train from Beijing to Nanyang was going to be killer. The train was over an hour late arriving at Nanyang, it kept stopping incessantly throughout the trip, whether it at a station or not, and the stops would last at least 20 minutes. But really, it wasn’t too bad. Nothing a deck of cards and beer couldn’t solve. A lot of beer.
The train itself is another story. We were in what they call “hard sleepers,” which is basically a nice way of saying: “It’s still like a cattle car, but at least you’ve got a bed.” The beds are stacked three-high with 18 rows in one car.
The situation is as good as the worst company you have. Some people get snorers, some people get babies, some people get smokers. It’s luck of the draw.
The toilets on the train were locked during the station stops and were squatters – squat toilets, that is. You can imagine the difficulty foreigners have to use squat toilets, let alone using one on a moving, rattling train. You can also imagine what they might look and smell like after 16 hours overnight. Not for the faint of heart.
Then there were the incessant food carts that the staff kept rolling up and down the train. It was like a never-ending parade of instant noodles and warm beer. At least there was free hot water, with which you could make your own tea or bowl of ramen.
If you splurge a little more, you can get “soft sleepers,” which are 4-bed private compartments that have a real door. If you want to spend a little less, you can go for “soft” or “hard” seats, which I presume differ in the same way, only without beds.
If you forgot to reserve a ticket? You’re standing all night, unless you score a seat in the dining car and don’t mind spending money on mediocre food to stay there.
Of course, there are worse ways to travel – you could be on a bus!
Want to book a trip to China? Check out the tripatlas.com/new Trip Builder where you can request a quote local travel agents who are waiting to offer you custom prices on your trip.
Steven Wong is a Toronto native and serious traveller who is always looking for the next adventure and destination. He is currently taking on China bit by bit. For more travelling vicariously through him, go to: stevenwong.ca.