Atop Huangshan, in the Clouds.
We left Shanghai on Thursday, October 29th…as I had convinced Jason to leave work a couple hours early and to have a day off on Friday. I had bought our train tickets earlier that week at the local train ticket office, it was a great practice of my Mandarin and a success. Surprisingly, you can get around speaking English in Shanghai fairly easily, which is a bit unfortunate for a shy student of Mandarin – I don’t HAVE to speak Mandarin.
Before we leave on Thursday, I buy snacks at the local LianHua and upon arriving to the train station early. We purchase four na’an from my favorite Chinese ethnic group, a pomello, and Jason’s beer – as he was pretty bummed our last train trip for running out of beer so soon with Ned.
Upon entering the waiting room, the cattle lines are already in form and I am able to find a short line to the far right. We board our train car, and it seems a bit more retro and older than the train we took to Beijing a year ago. It’s okay, of course, I just hope we don’t have any roommates, let alone snoring roommates or people that love to listen to their “ringtones” and “songs” off their cell phone without headphones. The unfortunate part is that we are next to the bathroom. I am a light sleeper, let alone on a moving train with loud cackling girls next door (I believe that’s where the local party was that night)…I begin to imagine the knocking of the door throughout the night or even better,...