Train Through North China and Inner Mongolia
The next morning we got up early and went to the train station in downtown Beijing. Once there we were shuffled into a room where foreigners and Chinese minorities had to wait for their train. The main lobby of the terminal is reserved for Han Chinese. We were waiting for the Trans-Mongolian train which would take us to the capital of Mongolia. Mongolia is the country north of China about the size of Spain, France and Germany put together with a population of about 2.1 million people, but with twice as many cows, sheep, yaks and horses.
Beijing Train Station
We pulled out of the station at around 7am. All Chinese trains are painted dark green. Inside there was wood paneling on the outer walls and the carpet was dark blue. In the cars that had seats there were three rows of seats on one side and two on the other. We were assigned to a car that had cabins. There were nine cabins per car to sleep in once it got dark. The second class car had four bunks per cabin which is the way we were traveling.
A surreal feeling fell over me as we passed the landscape outside the train window. There were makeshift crowded houses that were squashed together. Each had a garden in the back. People were milling around or going to and fro in the streets and pathways. It wasn't long before we got to the outskirst of the city and started to come upon more rural areas. At one point we went passed one part of the great wall. Here most of the dwelling places are tiny, dirty, crumbling red brick houses with tile roofs. I could see that the roads were bad and needed a little TLC.
We were headed north through steep, winding hills, plunging valleys and then finally open plains. We even went through a fairly long tunnel. Was I really in China? I thought to myself. I pinched myself to see if I was going to wake up from a dream.
Engine
We would be arriving in Mongolia early the next morning I was told.
At 12 noon we had our first meal. We went down to the dining car which was a few cars away. Once there we had to wait in line and then eat in shifts. Once it was our turn to eat we were seated and a girl came and put the food in front of us. She gave us chopsticks. For drinks you got a choice of soft drinks or water. I had a coke with Chinese characters written on the can that had the old fashion pull tab that we used to use back in the 70's. The meal was some sort of beef chunks mixed with chunks of fat and some kind of spice I couldn't identify. Shredded, boiled cabbage was on the side and also a little bowl of rice. The rice was overcooked and tasted terrible.
We were passing all kinds of landscapes. There were mountain ranges in the distance. Most of the terrain was cultivated fields planted with corn and vast farm lands. There were also some other types of plants, possibly soybean and cabbage. Inbetween the farm lands there were villages. Each house had about two or three chimneys. Sometimes there was Chinese writing on some of the building close to the railroad tracks. It was possibly put there to identify the name of the town. I asked someone what kind of stoves these people use. I was told that they have open fires in their houses. I'm sure someone in one of those houses was steaming wheatcakes with red bean filling over a coal fire. I heard that this is one of the things these people eat in this region of China.
Country Side
The train rumbled down the tracks. Once in awhile we passed a factory with blue smoke pouring from it's smokestack. I also notice quite a few monsterous earth moving machinery. There were several graveyards along the way. Some were just mounds of dirt with a headstone at one end. In other areas there were just mounds of dirt with no headstone. I saw quite a few portable beehives set along side fields. When the bees finished collecting the pollen from plants in one field they are taken to another field.
Chinese House
For dinner we filed into the dining car again. This time it was chicken, rice and cabbage with the leftover beef from lunch dumped in. It was actually terrible.
The train only made one stop. It was at a station where people had push carts selling things to eat and souvenirs. I took the opportunity to get out and stretch my legs a bit. I bought some kind of snack that was kind of like popped corn that had a strange smell to it.
The next morning we got up early and went to the train station in downtown Beijing. Once there we were shuffled into a room where foreigners and Chinese minorities had to wait for their train. The main lobby of the terminal is reserved for Han Chinese. We were waiting for the Trans-Mongolian train which would take us to the capital of Mongolia. Mongolia is the country north of China about the size of Spain, France and Germany put together with a population of about 2.1 million people, but with twice as many cows, sheep, yaks and horses.
Beijing Train Station
We pulled out of the station at around 7am. All Chinese trains are painted dark green. Inside there was wood paneling on the outer walls and the carpet was dark blue. In the cars that had seats there were three rows of seats on one side and two on the other. We were assigned to a car that had cabins. There were nine cabins per car to sleep in once it got dark. The second class car had four bunks per cabin which is the way we were traveling.
A surreal feeling fell over me as we passed the landscape outside the train window. There were makeshift crowded houses that were squashed together. Each had a garden in the back. People were milling around or going to and fro in the streets and pathways. It wasn't long before we got to the outskirst of the city and started to come upon more rural areas. At one point we went passed one part of the great wall. Here most of the dwelling places are tiny, dirty, crumbling red brick houses with tile roofs. I could see that the roads were bad and needed a little TLC.
We were headed north through steep, winding hills, plunging valleys and then finally open plains. We even went through a fairly long tunnel. Was I really in China? I thought to myself. I pinched myself to see if I was going to wake up from a dream.
Engine
We would be arriving in Mongolia early the next morning I was told.
At 12 noon we had our first meal. We went down to the dining car which was a few cars away. Once there we had to wait in line and then eat in shifts. Once it was our turn to eat we were seated and a girl came and put the food in front of us. She gave us chopsticks. For drinks you got a choice of soft drinks or water. I had a coke with Chinese characters written on the can that had the old fashion pull tab that we used to use back in the 70's. The meal was some sort of beef chunks mixed with chunks of fat and some kind of spice I couldn't identify. Shredded, boiled cabbage was on the side and also a little bowl of rice. The rice was overcooked and tasted terrible.
We were passing all kinds of landscapes. There were mountain ranges in the distance. Most of the terrain was cultivated fields planted with corn and vast farm lands. There were also some other types of plants, possibly soybean and cabbage. Inbetween the farm lands there were villages. Each house had about two or three chimneys. Sometimes there was Chinese writing on some of the building close to the railroad tracks. It was possibly put there to identify the name of the town. I asked someone what kind of stoves these people use. I was told that they have open fires in their houses. I'm sure someone in one of those houses was steaming wheatcakes with red bean filling over a coal fire. I heard that this is one of the things these people eat in this region of China.
Country Side
The train rumbled down the tracks. Once in awhile we passed a factory with blue smoke pouring from it's smokestack. I also notice quite a few monsterous earth moving machinery. There were several graveyards along the way. Some were just mounds of dirt with a headstone at one end. In other areas there were just mounds of dirt with no headstone. I saw quite a few portable beehives set along side fields. When the bees finished collecting the pollen from plants in one field they are taken to another field.
Chinese House
For dinner we filed into the dining car again. This time it was chicken, rice and cabbage with the leftover beef from lunch dumped in. It was actually terrible.
The train only made one stop. It was at a station where people had push carts selling things to eat and souvenirs. I took the opportunity to get out and stretch my legs a bit. I bought some kind of snack that was kind of like popped corn that had a strange smell to it.
posted by THE REAL MIKE BAILEY at 8:50 PM
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