Shanghai to Nanning and Behai.......China

  After saying goodbye to my wife and daughter at Pudong Airport, Shanghai, I booked a dumpy hotel room; after carrying my backpack to several establishments that were full. In the morning I ventured to the #7 subway line and rode the train to the South Train Station.

                      

I had already booked my train ticket to Nanning, Guangxi which was 1,900 kms to the south/west and realized that the 17 hour trip would be hell; there were no sleepers. I arrived at the huge South Train Station at about noon, I did not know how long it would take me to get there; the train was not to leave until 4pm. I talked to a few English speakers, it was very hard to hear since the crowds of people, and the voice over the PA, were so loud. A young lady told me that the train to Nanning was 29 hours, I said that the ticket agent told me 17, I could not believe who was right.......a train passenger.

   In China there is no option to the consumer for trains, the government runs the entity. The time was 6:30 and the train was still not boarding; a full 2.5 hours past the scheduled departure time and 6.5 hours since arriving at the train station. Finally I joined the running race down the stairs to the platform as the crowds pushed to be first on the cars; many of these people didn't have a seat; I would have no idea which of these people would be staring at me as I sat in my seat. The cattle trains (K), although unbearable at times, are actually a great way to mingle with common Chinese people. There were some views of farms before dark.

                   

with farmers planting rice, mostly all from the older generation.

                   

     The night was very long, sleepless and very stuffy; the crowds of people supplied an array of stench. The most frustrating aspect of the night was the smoking, there is supposed to be no smoking but the men stand in between the cars....usually about 6 or 7, and that smoke wafts into the train car. I managed to get a few photo's in, once there was daylight, and trees were not in the way;

                   

most quick sights were only for the naked eye. I logged in my journal about the hell that the trip was, very uncomfortable, but I managed to make many friends on "the train of one foreigner", most foreigners fly or take the fast train.

  At 2am I checked into a hotel, after being awake for 44 hours, it was a bit of a struggle; especially with no English speakers. The people at the restaurant, the taxi driver, and front desk workers at the hotel had no clue what I was talking about. Anyway, I managed 6 hours sleep and then I was back at the train station boarding a 3 hour train for the 225 kms south to Beihai. I checked into a nice hotel and then went for a walk; eventually finding the Beibu Gulf; I was just in time to find the sand, and a good sunset.

                          


 I got familiar with the buses that past me on the 6km return walk; and had a great seafood dinner of: a plate of shrimp, bowl of clams, and rice. I walked back to the hotel and knew where my destination for the next day would be.

   The next morning started with a great complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and then an argument with a rare fluent English speaker who lit a cigarette in the restaurant. After leaving the hotel in this small city of 600,000 I walked to familiarize myself with the area, there were some interesting vehicles on the road.

                        

      I took the #3 bus to the beach and then walked back to a harbour to get some great photo's of the local fishing fleet

                        

and the people who live on their boats.

                       

A few minutes later I caught an image that is still with me today; there was a man and a girl who appeared to be about 9 years old repairing a fishing net; I approached them to get a photo but when the girl looked up her expression was of deep sadness and hardship. This girls face told a long story of the apparent poor life that she was leading, so very sad; needless to say I could not bare to take the photo. I headed back to the one end of the beach close to the restaurants, this is where the Chinese tourists go. There was a lot of garbage on the beach; guys were renting ATV's for people to ride up and down the sand on.....maybe one of the worst activities for a nice beach.

                       

 It is my experience that the Chinese do not often do much walking and prefer to stay close together where the crowds are. I walked about 4 kms down the fine sand beach and it was a whole new world, about 500 metres down from the Chinese tourists there was only myself ,

                       

 and a lone local clam digger.

                       


There was a stilted shack on the beach that local fishermen use, so I stopped there to have my snack and get out of the sun, the temperature was about 35 degrees.

                      

 After recent tropical storms there were several spots where shells, sponge, and this sea turtle were washed ashore; I wished this critter would have survived.

                      

   I finished the length of the beach and felt a bit foolish that I did not protect myself from the sun better, my legs, nose and feet were so burn't; I just had sandals on. Once back to my starting spot I went again to the same seafood restaurant for a delicious meal.

  On the city map one can see that the 8km return trip on the beach was actually 3 differently named beaches. My stay in Behai was well worth the 6 hour return trip from Nanning, the next day I was to leave Behai for Nanning and then move on to Sanya, China's most southern city. I knew that I was sunburn't but I had no idea of the problem I would have with my feet for the next week; they ended up swelling severely and the skin peeled 3 times. The blogs from my trip to Sanya and my experiences while there were composed earlier and can be found at the top of the China blog page.