My first train ride in China - Yi Chang to Zhang Jia Jie

Train rides in China were never easy. In fact, it can be quite hell-like, especially during Chinese New year season.

I bought a hard-seat ticket to Zhang Jia Jie from Yi Chang. The ride will take me about 6 hours. The on-going train was scheduled to arrive at the train station at 1pm.

There were actually a lot of people with tones of baggage waiting to board the train. The entire waiting hall was very much in a chaotic state. At about 1245pm, just 15 minutes before the train arrive, the gate was finally opened and there was a mad-rush. People of different kinds-the old and weak with walking sticks, the young teenagers, wives with babies strapped onto their backs, men with huge boxes of loads, small children with ice-cream on their hands....they were all in front of me. I cannot imagine I even lose out to the old people here. I cannot bring myself to push and squeeze through them, and so I stand right at the back of the crowd, trying my best to use my backpack to prevent more people from cutting in front of me. Eventually, I don’t really bother about queuing anymore because it doesn't work here.

It was so amazing that there was an automatic travelator in the train station. Just by standing still, you will move forward…yes, a human travelator and I was being pushed forward by the crowd behind. I found myself ended up at the ticket counter in no less than a minute. When I reached the platform, I was left with only less than 5 minutes to board the train! My cabin was number 35 and I was actually standing at cabin number 15. I ran together with my backpack to my cabin because I've heard about incidents, that the train here will leave on time despite the fact that you are still running for it. Of course, I don’t want to end up in that position! Once again, I am glad that I am OBS-trained, for if not, I cannot imagine myself running after the train with my super big backpack strapped onto my shoulders.

Second round of squeezing came to me when I finally found the tiny door that says "35". The entire cabin was filled with people and it was jammed packed to the door. I know I have to get on the train and so, I put on my thick-skin and crash my way into the door, trampling on the locals and stepping all over their bags. Shacks! I hate that but there's nothing I can do either.

Inside the cabin, it was a sight. The entire cabin was so chaotic. People were either pushing in their baggage on the racks, or finding their seats. There can be as many as a family of 6 sharing a bench which is only meant for 3. I finally found my seat, occupied by a typical "Ah-Beng". He has a row gold tooth, with matching gold hair! Cool! Nevertheless, whether or not he has gold teeth, I am still asking him for my seat back because I cannot imagine myself standing for 6 hours in that train. In fact, he looked suspicious as if he came on board without any tickets.

Anyway, he shifted his butt and shared the seat with his friends who were sitting beside me. It was really crampy, with 5 persons (the 5th one is actually my backpack) sitting on a bench meant for 3. I stuffed my backpack on the floor in between my legs instead.

Ok, now these "Ah-Bengs" were really a bunch of irritating flies, yet they can be quite funny. They broadcast their MP3 songs on their handphones and sang loudly with it. Ordered fruits and throw banana skins, grape seeds and orange peels out of the train windows. Spit regularly on the floor just beside me and scattered the melon seeds all over the floor. The worst thing was that they smoked non-stop throughout the train-ride and even though the train attendant tried to stop them, they out rightly argued back. I was suffering and almost got myself chocked by the smoke. I was actually thinking is it better for me to jump out of the train window and get run over by the train or to die of suffocation as the later is a much slower and painful death, just like what I am experiencing at this moment. I wore my "Mickey Mouse" face mask and use my hands to fan furiously, trying to let them get the hint. Failed.

Soon, they grew bored and began to flirt with a young girl sitting by the window next to me. It was funny as these guys try to act macho and be monkeys to entertain the girl. And hey, I was quite entertained too. That made my journey more interesting.

Then I saw the train conductor holding a huge carton of socks and selling them. Hmm, I didn't know that train conductors can do part time job, such as socks vendor while on the train. That was interesting!

Though the train was chaotic and I did suffer a fair bit while on board this train, it is always the overcrowded trains in China that really make my journey much more interesting. This in turn, makes our MRT seems so dull and devoid of character. Through the boarding of trains and taking public buses in China, I was given the full avenue to experience the Chinese culture live, on board.