I knew I would be cutting it rather close when I found out (while still living in America) that my plane landed at Shanghai PuDong airport at 1910, and the last train to Wuhan left at 2155. PuDong is about 35km away from the South railway station where the train departs from; had I flown into Hongxiao, the other Shanghai airport, I would have only been about 14km away. As it was, I had to clear customs, retrieve my luggage, race through the airport, catch the mag-rail (super fast, magnetic motor train, racing through the city at a whopping 300km/hr!) After riding the mag-rail I had to find the #2 subway line to People's Square, and there transfer to the #1 subway line to the South railway station. I was able to navigate all of this just fine, thanks to my rudimentary knowledge of the Chinese language and the written directions from a guy on the plane.
Fortunately, I got to the train station at 2110. Unfortunately, there was a very long line of people buying train tickets. By the time my turn came to approach the window, it was 2205 - I had missed the D@#M! train by 10 minutes. I sat down and contemplated my options: I could find a hotel in Shanghai. I could go back to the airport and buy a plane ticket to Wuhan. Or I could spend the night at the train station and buy a ticket for the very next train to Wuhan. Considering I was pulling a 46Lbs suitcase, a 20Lbs laptop bag and a fairly heavy carry-on, and the fact that the plane ride was less than comfortable, I opted to stay at the train station. I really couldn’t move anymore, and besides, it is all part of the experience, right?
Just before the ticket window closed down at midnight, I was able to buy a ticket on the next train departing at 1347 the next day. Immediately after that, the police started blowing their whistles, rounding vagrants up and out of the station. Being a valid ticket holder – a stroke of luck, there! I got to stay and I found a quiet corner, curled up on top my luggage and slept for about 3 hours. Then the train station got really cold, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, even after foraging into my suitcase and digging out my jacket to use as a blanket. I was very hungry. Remember the food disaster on the plane? Unfortunately all the stores in the station were closed. Fortunately, some of the food stores at the station opened at 0600, so I got up, washed my face and scored some food. Luckily I had thought to convert some money before leaving the U.S., and again I'm not going to discount the help my language ability afforded me. After that, a quick phone call – navigating a pay phone menu, nonetheless! - to my sponsor to let him know that I was not going to be on the train I had anticipated being on, and then... I wandered around the train station in a daze, instead of going to sight see around Shanghai. I was too exhausted to enjoy the sights, and by now my feet had started swelling badly in spite of the comfortable shoes Marjorie had provided me with.
So now, the wait for the train. I was unbelievably tired! Remember, it is just 6:30 in the morning and I had only slept about 3 hours. Adventurous spirit be damned, I wanted a bed, a shower, a decent meal... but it was all part of the experience, right? I was NOT in a good mood at this point. Let me stress that clearly.
I thought some warm food would help me, maybe something carb-laden. So I went to the train station’s KFC when it opened at 7:00 and ordered a breakfast meal. Please note that there were not many choices to be had; it was KFC or a dumpling restaurant. Chinese dumplings are notoriously light and, although initially filling generally do not go the extra mile to keep you full. Also, I think I was looking for comfort in familiarity. So I opted for a brand I was familiar with: KFC. I ordered a chicken sandwich meal, but instead of fries it came with congee, a Chinese glutinous rice soup dish that can be served either sweet or spicy or just loaded with other stuff. In this case, it was loaded with seaweed and some questionable meat. Being so hungry and cold, I gobbled it all up and felt a little better.
What to do now? With more than 6 hours wait for my train, I sat down and people-watched. What a fascinating snapshot of Chinese society I got in the train station! Women like to dress to travel: their finest dresses and heels, even if it was evening wear. Some of the younger generation went more for stylish or sporty comfort, but still styled their hair and carried designer bags. There was a lot of moneyed people going through that station, and they rubbed elbows with the vagrants and migrant workers – those called ‘shoulder-poles’ because they made their living toting goods using two baskets dangling from a bamboo pole, balanced on their shoulder. Interestingly enough, everyone was accorded the same amount of personal space, whether rich or poor, fancied up or unwashed. Nobody shied away from the peasants and no one sought out the rich.
I changed places many times, getting up and walking around when I started getting drowsy. Once I sat next to a father who was travelling with his daughter, who appeared to be about 5 years old. A sweet looking little girl with a pink dress on and a matching bow in her hair, the poor thing was so tired she was trying to sleep while leaning on her bag. Her father must have been equally tired as he was canted to the left and sprawled out as much as possible in the narrow metal chair. Perhaps some inner clock woke him, or maybe he just suffered the same problem I did – inability to actually sleep, so he nudged the girl and told her to watch the bags. And then he got up and walked away! Imagine: leaving a 5-year-old child alone in a busy railway station, and in charge of the bags, no less! She roused herself as best she could and reached for her drinking cup inside a small, pink bag. Feeling slightly like a voyeur, I looked away.
There were several instances of children running free around the station. It is not that the parents don’t care, it is just that maximum freedom is afforded here because, of all the places in the world, China is one of the safest places to live. There is a premium value accorded to children in China, because they are treasured. It is truly a place where children can frolic without the obvious presence of parents nearby.
My lingering thought while taking all of this in through my fogged out, sleep deprived brain was: although I would do most anything for some creature comforts at that point in time, and I was sorely missing everything I’d left behind in the States, there is still no place on earth I’d rather be than in China. Except for in the company of a loved one.
My mood took a turn for the worse when I finally boarded the train, only to find out I had booked passage on the SLOW train to Wuhan: the one that left Shanghai at 1347, and got to my destination at 0600 the next morning! I had to borrow a fellow passenger's cellphone in order to call my sponsor and tell him I'd be later than I thought. And, my mood didn't improve when I realized that, not only was I on the slow train, but I had a 'hard seat' ticket, when I could/should have bought a sleeper car ticket. But, the ticket teller didn't give me that option and I didn't think to ask about one because I didn't figure I was on the slow train! So again, I spent the night sitting up, in a loud and lighted environment. The glow from the KFC carb-extravaganza had worn off a long time ago. Hungry, aching from pulling suitcases everywhere... you can imagine it was not a fun time. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting ride... and the subject of the final part of this nightmare trilogy!
For now, you have the story about being stranded in Shanghai! One of these days, I'm going to look back on it and laugh, but right now, I'm still a bit... frazzled. That's one for the 'bet I don't to that again' file that I keep in my head. It is an adventure I definitely would not recommend to anyone, unless they are less than 25 years old, unpampered, healthy and just a touch stupid. I certainly felt that way - a touch stupid, definitely not under 25. If anything, these exploits made me feel 125 years old!
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