Let's get nuts

Tuesday February 7, 2012

Owing to lunar new year this is the peak holiday period in China. Thus when I mentioned to people that I wanted to travel by train I was warned more than once that the experience would be stressful.

I was saying goodbye to Harbin for a ride to Yanji, 530km away. It would be a 12 hour overnight trip so naturally I wanted a sleeper ticket. But at this time of the year, forget it! I was told in no uncertain terms that I was lucky enough to even get a "hard seat" (economy). The ticket was just $6 so I thought "What choice have I got, I'll enjoy rubbing shoulders with the masses."

I walked to Harbin train station two-and-a-half hours early. I'll give myself plenty of time, sit back in the waiting room and read my Kindle - so I thought. The first omen for the night to come was the railway station itself. The station is massive like an airport, but there were so many people there was barely standing room. No seat in the waiting room was left vacant for more than a few milliseconds. There was a mad scramble as soon as an incumbent stood - I hadn't seen such feral behaviour since witnessing British passengers boarding my RyanAir flight to Barcelona. Yikes.

All aboard. No really, ALL! (Harbin station)

After standing around awkwardly for over two hours unable to even open the Kindle, the boarding announcement for my train came. The best way to describe the boarding "queue" is a 2000-person rugby union scrum. There were just three ticket inspectors at the turnstiles but thousands people rushed. The melee lasted a good forty minutes in the concourse before we actually saw the platform.

Once I took my economy bench seat I could tell the next twelve hours would be a physical and mental test. Every seat occupied shoulder-to-shoulder, benches that recline at a fixed 90-degree angle, standing ticket passengers in the aisle, unheated carriage with inch-thick frost on the inside window frame (see picture), stench of cigarette smoke... The cobblestone streets and the sophisticated shopping centres of Harbin already seemed another world away. Things were about to get REAL.

Frost inside the train.

The locals found comfort in cup noodles (hot water is provided on board) and Harbin sausages, while I finally opened my Kindle to occupy the time.

China has many comfortable modern "bullet" style locomotives running these days, but as this was not a major route our train was in the old rickety socialist style - plus we stopped at every tiny station with no signage. The destination also meant I was likely the only tourist on the train, and this was to be the modus operandi for the next few weeks as I travel off the beaten track.

Yanji station - I arrived a shell of a man. But I arrived.

As people alighted along the way a lucky minority were able to find themselves space to lie down and get some sleep. Unfortunately I was wedged between people the entire trip - in fact I wrote a lot of the notes for this blog post while stuck between two women sleeping with their heads on the table.

My shoulder was sore from carrying my pack, my legs were cramping from being in the same contorted position for hours, I was exhausted from lack of sleep, and I was shivering even with all my layers on. But after a week of touristy Harbin the real China was beginning NOW and I was full of glee.