moo

The train on a national holiday was insane. I spent an hour in the holding pen before being herded onto the train. If you ever got in the wrong line you would be hooped. There is no way out. It is one breathing, sneezing, fidgeting mass of humanity.

They open the gates 10 minutes before the train departs. You can tell when it's time - the herd shuffles closer, jostles for position, squeezes in just a little more. It didn't make sense why there was a need to jockey for position. We all have assigned seats. It became clear as I sauntered to train car #1 at the far end of the platform. We were all moving along at a reasonable pace. I was gawking around because I wasn't 100% sure I was going the right way or even on the right train. Slowly the herd starts to trot and then breaks into a full on run. Car #1 was still a long way off when I realized I could hear buzzers. I have 5 more minutes so I do what any reasonable herd animal does – break into a full out sprint to the end knocking down anything that stands between me and seat #51 There must be a reason for the panic and quite honestly I’m not going to look around to find out. I arrive just as some guy tries to take my seat. Jerk.

But I did it. I survived my first solo flight on a Chinese train. The train is very fast and very smooth. Electric I think. We are whipping through the countryside at about 200 km/hr. It’s another hazy day and the scenery is a little underwhelming. Lots of canola or mustard or some other yellow flowered crop.

But it was all worth because after four nail biting hours, Peter arrived at the hotel - 2 hours late. Peter landed with a hotel address only in English, which doesn't guarantee a taxi driver will be able to read it. But he eventually arrived so we had a beer and hit the city.

Shanghai pictures to follow. First I have to finish writing the final test and prepare for my last week here. Then I can go out to the pasture to feed for a little while, get in touch with my herding instincts before we do this all over again.