08MAR 2011 Tue – Beijing & Back to Antu

08Mar Tue - Today I spent the morning using the Beijing hotel room internet and relaxing. At 11:00 we have to rush to check out to catch train back to Antu.

Calling Home
The hotel had fast internet connection so I could use Skype and call home. At 9:30 am in Beijing it was 8:30 am in Atlanta and Cleveland. It was 7:30 am in Wichita and Austin. I called my family and talked to Phil, Julie, and Cherri. I left message for Nick, Magy, Jan, and Shirley.

Visa for Chinese Citizen
It is much more difficult for a Chinese person to obtain a Visa to most any country than a US citizen. With a US passport, an American can arrive at many, if not most, countries either without a visa or purchase a visa at the airport on arrival. For a Chinese citizen, they have to prove that they are in good health and do not a criminal record. Chen, my tour guide, wanted to get a Kuwait visa from the Kuwait Embassy in Beijing. Chen took the subway to the embassy with proof of medical examination from June 2010, employment agreement for Kuwait Company, and previous Kuwait visa from Nov/Dec 2010 time frame. However, this is not enough. In addition, to a new medical examination, a statement for the local Ant U police is needed. I had an option to stay in Beijing and sightsee or take the train back to Ant U to get the papers needed for Kuwait Visa. I decided to go back to Antu.

Express Train Back to Antu
So now I am back on the express train headed back to Changchun and then to buy ticket for Train or Bus depending on what is available back to Ant U. In Beijing, we could not buy a ticket all the way back to Ant U on the same day of travel. The ticket agent did not know if there were seats available or not.

On the express train a man is laying on the floor between the cars near the toilet. He is sick or drunk. The passengers are talking like he is drunk. The train attendants do not know what to do but to let him lay there until the next station. At the next station he is not put off the train. I guess since he is peaceful and paid for his final destination he can stay on the train. Later someone helps him back to his seat. However, his seat is just behind me and across the aisle. He continues to be babbling drunk. During my travels on airplanes in the US, I have witnessed a few drunken passengers. There are one hundred passengers per car and nearly 20 cars or 2,000 passengers on the train. Only 1 drunk of 2,000 people is a small percentage. There could be more on the train but only one close to me which is more than enough. Finally he falls asleep with his pants zipper open and his hand is inside his zipper. I wonder what he is dreaming about.

Periodically, there is an announcement for “All passengers, the whole train is not allowed for smoking.” They should probably add “and no drinking.” However, just like American airlines, the train sells alcohol plus you can bring on board your own drink and food. We travel with a bag filled with a few water bottles, a bottle of rice wine, oranges, sunflower seeds, some bread, pickled radish, and dried fish (like beef jerky but fish instead of beef). I also purchased a coke on the train.

I am reminded of the first time I traveled on a “bullet” express train in Japan in 1993. No one spoke English. Not knowing, I purchased black coffee which I do not like and fried squid which I also did not like. This time in China the food on the train is recognizable even though all the writing on the packaging is Chinese.