We travelled second class for 6 hours from Shanghai Hong Qiao station to Beijingnan station. The only difference from first class was that it was much cheaper and we didn’t get a snack box or half-full cup of warm Sprite. And there were lots of small children who are allowed in China to do whatever they want. Including running up and down the train screeching incessantly. And sitting in a seat behind you kicking the back of your seat. If you stand up and GLARE at their parents, they stare back at you as if to question just how you dare to complain about anything their children do. We got into Beijing just as I was contemplating whether to turn round and clock someone. Or at least go and complain to the carriage guard.
The landscape was unremarkable: arable farmland with little rice paddies or fields of maize and various types of green vegetable. I don’t remember seeing any livestock since we left Xinjiang Province with its enormous herds of sheep, horses and camels. There were huge multi-million towns which I had never heard of with mile after mile of tower blocks and small villages of rather shabby houses, most of which were two-storey. Quite different from the smart three-storey houses we saw between Changsha and Shanghai. There were frequent large factories and power stations. One occasional welcome feature was small ranges of limestone hills with bare cliffs but otherwise covered in thick forest. Very attractive.
A big mistake was to decide not to look for a hotel near the railway station. On a previous occasion we found a small and cheap but very pleasant hotel in the Belgian Legation quarter adjacent to Tiananmen Square, and I hoped to find it again. However whenever we tried to get near the Square we were stopped by barriers and policemen who courteously told us that the Square was blocked for two days. Given that Mao Tse-Dong proclaimed the Chinese Peoples Republic from the Square 75 years ago, I assumed that something important was happening.
After wandering around we came across the Klempinski Beijing Nuo hotel and decided to stay the night at an astronomical price. At least the breakfast was delicious.
