THe Beginning of an Adventure

Darkness fell over Beijing and three travelers embarked upon an adventure through Asia.  It was a cool night for the Beijing summer and the city was recovering post Olympic games.   It had been a show for the ages and as the travelers gathered their things they knew the time had come to move on to other adventures, leaving behind the city that had been their home for over a month.  They met at China Peoples Palace Hotel, what had become the headquarters for the JetSet bowling league, and grabbed a cab towards the Beijing West Railway Station, not knowing what the coming days would bring.  Even though they had worked together for a month they had very little knowledge of one another.  Two of them, John and David had worked together previously in Torrino, Italy. David and Ethan knew each other briefly from living in Chicago and having some mutual friends.  But this would be the most time they had ever spent together one on one. 

Small talk ensued as they rode towards the station.  Talk of their upcoming trip, their past 40 days in Beijing, and company gossip helped to calm any nerves they faced.  John was an experienced traveler having spent almost ¾ of the year on the road for work.  David was moderately experienced, and the third, Ethan, had little to no international experience.  None of them spoke Chinese at any recognizable level.  They had found the language barrier to be more difficult than expected but due to Chinese hosts, and a moderately westernized Beijing it had not been difficult to this point. 

The cab pulled into the station and it seemed that half of Beijing was attempting to take a train that night.  They unloaded their things from the cab, hoisted their luggage onto to their backs and took their places in line.  It was like hearding cattle through a gate, one at a time.  The line took about fifteen minutes to get inside and once inside it seemed to be sheer madness, with no rhyme or reason.  There were people everywhere, hustling to their appropriate gates, with what seemed to be no regard for those around them.  Pushing, shoving their way through the masses.  It smelled of hay and a lack of personal hygiene.  They found their way to a information desk, presented their tickets and hoped that the person would point them in the correct direction.  Train Z19 to Xian. ”Go to the wait room,” she said, and directed them across the large, open room.  They entered under a sign that read “Wait Room” and were greeted by a room filled with Chinese families and a few Westerners.  They found two seats in the back corner of the room and attempted to figure out the process to board.  After setting their things down, two of them headed for the restroom, which also appeared to be the smoking lounge.  David lined up at the urinal and Ethan found a stall.  The stall had no toilet, just a hole in the ground, with running water.  Ethan was relieved that he only had to pee because squatting above the hole seemed so awkward and unfamiliar to him.  Ethan exited and washed his hands at the sink as David was drying his.  They both exited and walked towards the counter of one of the small shops in the wait room.  David looked around for some chocolate while Ethan simply milled.  After a few minutes Ethan decided he wanted some ice cream.  He stood above the refrigerator examining the packages of the different ice cream bars.  Doing his best to decipher the true contents of the package he decided upon a chocolate coated bar, with a purple ice cream inside.  He paid the 5 RMB for the bar and walked back to his friends.  They were ready to board the train, so they slugged their things onto their backs and walked towards the gate.  John led the way, followed by David and then Ethan.  Ethan had opened the ice cream bar and was busy attempting to eat quickly, while walking through the gate.  They speculated upon the purple ice cream’s true flavor.  “Blueberry, perhaps?”  Whatever it was, it did not matter; it simply became another non-descript yet edible item of food. 

They found the appropriate gate after being pointed in the right direction and walked down the stairs towards the train.  They were in the last car of the train, and in sleeper beds in separate rooms.  They had purchased three top bunk tickets, and each room was equipped with two top bunks and two bottom bunks.  David was the lucky one who was relegated to staying with the neighbors.  He would spend the night with an Asian couple and their adorable little girl, who appeared to be around 5 or 6 years old.  Ethan and John would spend their next 13 hours with two men from Xian, who had been in Beijing on business.

They two men were very friendly and spoke a bit of English, probably a little more than the Chinese that Ethan and John were able to speak, but not much.  From the limited amount of conversation the four had they were able to talk about where they were from, what they did for work, and how long they had been in Beijing and Xian.  They also recommended trying some sort of sheep meat for a meal in Xian. 

John and Ethan found the beds to be comfortable enough to make due, and luckily had tired themselves enough from the flurry of activity the day before that they were able to sleep, somewhat through the night. 

The train rocked back and forth, and there was at some point of the night an incessant high pitched, banging noise that seemed to come from directly above their sleeper.  

Sometime around 7 am Ethan and John were awoken by the sound of the conductor, who asked them to “please awake so as to have an enjoyable day in Xian.”  The train was not even set to arrive until 8:24 am, so it seemed a bit odd to them that they needed to be awake an hour and a half prior to the train arrival.  They both drifted off to sleep once again, only to be reawaken by someone banging on their door.  They opened it a bit curiously and at the door stood one of the train workers’ who entered the cabin, reached down to the floor and pulled the plastic bag from the trashcan.  Once again feeling a bit surprised at the inconsiderate nature of this “wake up call” the boys looked at one another and simply shrugged.  By this point the train had turned the radios in the rooms on and a U.S. song came over the radio.  Usher’s “Let it Burn” played first and then Norah Jones, “Sunrise”, followed by more Chinese music. 

The train arrived precisely on time in Xian, and David, Ethan and John grabbed their things and left the train.  Upon exiting the station they were greeted by a tour guide who was waiting for David Daldwin.  A persistent rain that would last for the entire day in Xian also greeted them.