Train rides

Whew! Made it! I almost thought I wouldn't. I left Beijing last Wed. on the night train, and boy was that a fiasco. So, I know my bags are heavy....and I'm not proud of that fact, but at least I can honestly say it was because of books this time....but I've always been able to take them on the train with me, and not really have to worry about them. So, here's the story, and we'll see if I can't make it interesting enough to read.....

After trying several times to get a train ticket (which was next to impossible, because it's the week of the national holiday and EVERYONE is traveling -- all by train), we eventually found one and had to take a taxi to the exact opposite end of town (quite a long drive in Beijing). Fortunately, we had a very nice taxi driver who knew where to go, and he helped me when I went to pick up the ticket. Although they charged me 50 extra yuan for a handling fee, I thought it was worth it just to know that I was actually going to get to where I needed to go. Fast forward a few hours. The friends who I was staying with have a Chinese friend who owns a car and charges a fee for rides (like a non-metered taxi). They asked him to drive me to the train station and help me get my bags onto the train, and he charged me surprisingly little for it. Well, I should've known things weren't going to turn out exactly as I had expected when he ended up parking about a block (equal to 2 or 3 U.S. blocks) from the station. First I need to explain something: previously, I had been with a family who paid for their own private driver, and he parked very close to the entrance, and actually saw me onto the platform and helped me get onto the train before leaving. He was awesome, and that was kind of what I was hoping this other guy would do. Well, we hadn't walked very far when I could tell the one bag w/out wheels (I apologize profusely to *anyone* who ever has to deal with that) was taxing on him. Of course at that point we were accosted by about 5 men wanting to carry it....for a small fee, of course. By the time we made it to the bridge (over the busy road, across which was the station) some more guys had accosted us with their little baggage carts, wanting to cost much more than it was worth to wheel my overstuffed, way overweight bag. I was way annoyed. So I just said it was too expensive, and tried to carry it myself. I'm sure it looked comical, since it weighed about half of me. By the time I got to the top of the bridge, he physically forced the bag out of my hands and onto his carrier (don't remember the exact word for that thing....). I told him a price lower than he had set, and he said, "Okay, okay." Of course it was much easier to walk after that. Here's the catch, and let this be a lesson to the lot of ye if ever you find yourself in another country. We got to the entrance, and I thought we were going in, so I went ahead and paid the guy. My mistake, and I wish I could go back and re-do. Of course he didn't give me the change I was supposed to get after he said "okay, okay" to the lower price. Oh, I was not happy. The guy who drove me then took us with the luggage to a completely different entrance than I had ever gone in, which made me more confused and annoyed. Then the guy who carried the one bag without wheels left. I tried to call after him, but he was obviously in a hurry to get out before I confronted him and asked for my money. Oooooohhhh. I may be a waiguoren who is "made of money," but I still don't like being cheated. Anyway, I had to fill out these forms and tell these guys in this big room what sort of things were in my bags. Then they started putting these cords around them to keep them tight or something and asked me what my destination was. I knew something was up, but was not quite willing to believe it. Finally I just asked the driver what was going on and he said they had to send the bags on a different car and they would get to my town the day after I did.....okay, so those of you who know how annoyed I can really get will understand my tolerance level at this point. They said something about it being more expensive to take them with me on the train, which I can't quite believe since I've done it before and not been charged *anything*....and since I ended up paying an extra 58 yuan to put them on this luggage train, 14 yuan for them to be bound, and 4 yuan to pick them up in Tai'an. Altogether, I ended up paying over 100 yuan extra for this train ride than I had planned to. Not that I don't have the money.....this should just give you an idea of what life is like in China. ;)

To top it all off, although I've been in this train station a few times before, I still can't read Chinese and know exactly where I'm supposed to go. I always had someone with me to help me get where I needed to be. Once the luggage was all taken care of, the driver said goodbye and gave me a hug. He was a really nice guy, but I was just completely put out by what my expectations had been. So, I was left to getting on the train on my own. I went to the same place I had always gone, but I didn't see my train's number anywhere. I didn't start getting really worried until about 10 min. before it was supposed to leave. Finally, this young guy came up to me and asked me where I was going. When he showed me my ticket, he got really ancy and said I was going to miss my train. I was so relieved someone was speaking to me in English, but all I could say was, "where am I supposed to go?" He was very nice and helped me find it, even though he kept saying, "you're about to miss the train." (seriously, kid, just tell me where to go and I'll make sure I get on it....) So, after an adventurous evening, I was on my way "home" on a sleeper train. I don't think I've ever slept so well on one of those bunks. :)

BTW -- further adding to my annoyance was the fact that all of my clothes, soap, etc. were in my two big suitcases. I should know by now (experiences have taught me) to always, always pack at least one pair of clothes in your carry-on. Of course, I thought, "well, it's all going to the same place, it'll be on the train with me, it's fine." I was miserable all of Thurs. and Fri. morning, wearing the same things I'd worn since Wed......but we did retrieve my bags and I have been happily clean since then. ;)