Though I normally spring for hard sleeper beds when I have a choice, occasionally train travel in China is so popular that by the time I get to the ticket window to buy a departure a day or two away, I end up with a “hard seat” ticket. For relatively short journeys of no more than a few hours, this is fine.
For overnight and longer journeys, I almost instantly dread stepping into the carriage, fighting for a seat and a little bit of room, and trying with little success to get any sleep.
Although this is a better description and story (accompanied by much better Chinese) than I can give, it illustrates a fact that I always seem to forget as I’m dreading these trips: Hard Seat cabins are full of awesome people.
Though I’ve met a few friendly people in sleeper cars, the fact that there are a lot more people in seated cars and they’re crowded on top of one another seems to make the atmosphere at lot more social.
For the first half of the ride I had perhaps one of the longest coversations of my life in Chinese with a group of 5 middle-aged travelers who were getting off at Korla. One of them, a woman, seemed really concerned that I didn’t have a girlfriend. They invited me to get off at Korla and spend a few days with them, but combined fears of language inadequacy and inability to get to Kashgar and Hotan in time before I have to leave China kept me on the train and headed South.
As that group got off, four of us started playing cards (a Chinese game… THE Chinese game, whose name I still dont remember). After a few hours of that, with a lot of passing around of mp3 players in between, I taught Li Juar and the guy in the 2nd picture how to play dominoes. Between that and a bit of sleep, we carried through almost to Kashgar.
So, yes, these trains are uncomfortable. And yes, there is some worry about stuff being stolen, like my wallet on that very first vacation when I got to China (two years ago, as of the ride to Kashgar!) But the plus, importantly, is that they make great forums to meet locals and travelers both, and leave a much better memory than reading on the top bunk of a sleeper cabin ever will.
Hey, whatever you may lack in Chinese, you make up for in photos. I enjoyed this.
One of the things that really bowled me over when I first got here was how kind — almost reflexively so — people can be here. A shame you didn’t take the group up on their offer to get out at Korla — but there’ll be other chances.
Thanks! I know what you mean. My very first trip in China was over National Day in 2008, and our little group basically got adopted by a couple of students who were on their way back home to Xiamen.
I didn’t go to Korla because something else interesting was developing during the ride, and I wanted to see where it went. In the end, for several reasons, I’m pretty confident I made the right choice.
On a side note, I really enjoyed reading through your blog. Why so long between posts?