One of those days when there’s not much to tell again, as we spent almost all of it on a train. We were fortunate with our seat allocation for once, getting the 2 seats on the shorter bench. Once again, the train was packed to bursting point; after the first few stops, worse, I think, than ever before. It quite simply was not possible to move down the aisle. We chatted briefly with a Shanghai doctor, +, being right next to the Chief Conductor’s desk, had to weave a whole tissue of lies to explain how it was we were students in China, but spoke not a word of Chinese.
Otherwise, the usual – reading, writing, cards. Come night-time, Val squeezed herself into the tiniest possible space beneath the seat. She was so firmly wedged that it was only by an immense effort that she could turn herself over. This left a spare seat, of course, but on so crowded a train I could hardly dare (or presume) to keep it to myself. Surprisingly tho’, I slept, head down on the table, reasonably well.
Pretty hellish, actually, as the picture shows. Hard seat is one aspect of China we will be only too happy never to see again.
