Sunday, October 23, 2005
Leaving Bengbu by Train
Jeff is currently in Xian. Some of you might realize that Xian wasn't on his itinerary....Let's just say that when an internet/computer dependent person (Jeff) is unable to use the internet for several days and then he is able to find an internet cafe in the Shanghai airport, one must expect that this unnamed person (Jeff) might lose track of time... I am sure that the plane just left early from the gate heading to Lanzhou. :)
Jeff will still arrive in Lanzhou Sunday PM local time and Joe will be meeting him.
Jeff was able to send this post about his experience arriving to the train station in Bengbu.
Yong Ming and I were dropped off by taxi at the Shanghai Train station. This is a sprawling complex of busy and scurrying people, none of whom appeared to have the trappings of upper class society. The taxi stand was one floor below ground, and we had to climb some stairs to reach open air. We found ourselves being buffeted by people as they dashed about either on their daily commute, or going to or coming from the train station.
Lumbering with our bags, we slowly made our way through the crowd towards the huge rectangular facade of the train station. As we weeded our way through the throngs, we found ourselves blocked from crossing the street to get to the train station. There was a waist high fence of vertical metal rods in utilitarian fashion mere inches from the road's edge, lining the road all in front of the train station. While there were masses huddled together on either side, I chuckled to myself in comic desparation, wondering how we were going to get across. My only answer to this question was to look to YongMing with a pleading stare. He said, "follow me.".
With clumsy bags in tow, we struggled along the road until we came to a newspaper stand. it was near to the iron fenced road, and people struggled to get by the structure, or else struggled to get by the people who spent 5 to 10 seconds to rapidly exchange a few coins for a newspaper.
An old man, obviously a part of the work crew of the newspaperstand, was sitting on the ground with his back on the green metal of the newspaper stand, rapidly exchanging print for coins, as hands jabbed at him. His eyes never made contact with the patrons, as it was all he could do to keep track of the money coming in and the papers going out. He had his white hair cropped short against his head, and his face was a deep brown leather, although not too creased. His blue Mao jacket was faded and a bit worn, like stonewashed jeans. Although the garb may have been from the communist era, it was almost as if he was wearing it as a fashion statement, as it looked liked it had been washed once or twice too many times for it to have been usable.
YongMing said without looking at me, "I will ask this man how to get across". He blurted out something quickly to the man in Chinese, as we stopped to talk to him. In the few seconds it took to issue the question, as we stopped, we were already creating a disruption in this high paced society. The old man, not finished listening to the question, seemed irritated that we were interrupting his business.
YongMing issued the question, and the old man smiled, not looking at him. He issued his response, and then looked up at YongMing, and grinned even further.
YongMing then issued a deep and hearty laugh, and turned to me and in a rushed tone said, "let's go!".
"What? What? What did he say?" I said, as I was hustled and buffeted along in a direction along the fence.
Yong Ming said, "He said to me, 'Che dao san qian bi you lu' "
"and this means.....?" I said, as we finally found the intersection in which to cross, and we joined the flowing river of masses going across the street to the train station.
YongMing, still laughing a little, said, "He said, 'There will be a way when the horse-cart will come to the front of the mountain' ".
"Huh?" I said, perplexed.
"It means that when you reach the mountain, you will find a way around it... It means that you'll find a way...it's like saying 'you'll figure it out when you get there' ".
As we presented the entrance guard our ticket for the train and passed through the turnstiles on our way to Bengbu, I said, "Amen!".
Jeff will still arrive in Lanzhou Sunday PM local time and Joe will be meeting him.
Jeff was able to send this post about his experience arriving to the train station in Bengbu.
Yong Ming and I were dropped off by taxi at the Shanghai Train station. This is a sprawling complex of busy and scurrying people, none of whom appeared to have the trappings of upper class society. The taxi stand was one floor below ground, and we had to climb some stairs to reach open air. We found ourselves being buffeted by people as they dashed about either on their daily commute, or going to or coming from the train station.
Lumbering with our bags, we slowly made our way through the crowd towards the huge rectangular facade of the train station. As we weeded our way through the throngs, we found ourselves blocked from crossing the street to get to the train station. There was a waist high fence of vertical metal rods in utilitarian fashion mere inches from the road's edge, lining the road all in front of the train station. While there were masses huddled together on either side, I chuckled to myself in comic desparation, wondering how we were going to get across. My only answer to this question was to look to YongMing with a pleading stare. He said, "follow me.".
With clumsy bags in tow, we struggled along the road until we came to a newspaper stand. it was near to the iron fenced road, and people struggled to get by the structure, or else struggled to get by the people who spent 5 to 10 seconds to rapidly exchange a few coins for a newspaper.
An old man, obviously a part of the work crew of the newspaperstand, was sitting on the ground with his back on the green metal of the newspaper stand, rapidly exchanging print for coins, as hands jabbed at him. His eyes never made contact with the patrons, as it was all he could do to keep track of the money coming in and the papers going out. He had his white hair cropped short against his head, and his face was a deep brown leather, although not too creased. His blue Mao jacket was faded and a bit worn, like stonewashed jeans. Although the garb may have been from the communist era, it was almost as if he was wearing it as a fashion statement, as it looked liked it had been washed once or twice too many times for it to have been usable.
YongMing said without looking at me, "I will ask this man how to get across". He blurted out something quickly to the man in Chinese, as we stopped to talk to him. In the few seconds it took to issue the question, as we stopped, we were already creating a disruption in this high paced society. The old man, not finished listening to the question, seemed irritated that we were interrupting his business.
YongMing issued the question, and the old man smiled, not looking at him. He issued his response, and then looked up at YongMing, and grinned even further.
YongMing then issued a deep and hearty laugh, and turned to me and in a rushed tone said, "let's go!".
"What? What? What did he say?" I said, as I was hustled and buffeted along in a direction along the fence.
Yong Ming said, "He said to me, 'Che dao san qian bi you lu' "
"and this means.....?" I said, as we finally found the intersection in which to cross, and we joined the flowing river of masses going across the street to the train station.
YongMing, still laughing a little, said, "He said, 'There will be a way when the horse-cart will come to the front of the mountain' ".
"Huh?" I said, perplexed.
"It means that when you reach the mountain, you will find a way around it... It means that you'll find a way...it's like saying 'you'll figure it out when you get there' ".
As we presented the entrance guard our ticket for the train and passed through the turnstiles on our way to Bengbu, I said, "Amen!".
# posted by PoH_to_China_2005 @ 4:54 AM 
