Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

I’m writing this post as a way to pass time during our 16 hour train
journey east across China. We left Xian this afternoon and should
arrive in Hefei tomorrow morning around 6. Then we have to get another
train (fingers crossed) to Nanjing.

This train is considerably nicer than the last overnight train we
took. Although truthfully that wouldn’t take much. There is still the
smell of smoke in the air but it’s not as strong and there are no
visible stains or burn holes.. The train was cleaned just before we
boarded and the bunks and train look a little newer. Jacob and I both
have middle bunks again. This time though we are literally right in
the middle of a family vacation. Dad and the two sons have the bunks
above us the grandparents and the baby below us. The seem to be a
really nice family who are all quite happy to be going somewhere
together on the train. Mom took pictures of everyone in their bunks
from the platform. This is one of the many times a language barrier is
frustrating. The father has already tried talking to us but since we
don’t speak Chinese the conversation ended quickly.

One thing I to love about the public transit is getting to watch all
the people. I’m always curious as to where they’re going and why. Most
people seem to be carrying all of their possessions with them in all
sorts of bags, boxes and buckets. Most of the time on the trains and
on the buses we are the only white people. Something that I’ve become
quite used to but the locals seem to find amusing. People are
generally very nice to us though offering up seats or smiling and
nodding.

As much as I love to watch them I hate listening to them. The
continuous spitting will never sit well with me. It’s unbelievable how
often and how many people feel the need to try and hack up their left
lung while walking down the aisle of the train on the way to a garbage
can. At least they didn’t just spit on the floor like in most buildings.

The train gives us a chance to be a part of a sort of chinese
community as best as we can anyway. And as if in cue as I write this
the little boy above us is playing with his dads computer listening to
English phrases. The last one that played was "Welcome to China."

All of the other passengers seem much more comfortable on the trains
than we are. They climb in and out of the top bunks like acrobats
while I stumble walking down the aisle. More than once we’ve seen
family members sharing the beds. They hoist their children up and down
out of the bunks and the kids have no fear climbing the ladders. The
kids are all very well behaved and despite there being about a dozen
children under the age of 8 in our car we’ve heard almost no screaming
or crying. One particular mother has come up with an unusual way of
feeding her baby while travelling on the train. Taking a lesson from
the birds she chewed her instant noodles then like an expert the baby
put her lips to moms and got her share.