there was something i was dreaming of when planning this holiday about catching the train around china. something i didn’t get, and learnt a bit more about why i like trains – it’s the comfort and conveneience, neither of which i got on my china train trip this time round. i’d already changed my plans and was skipping hong kong, which meant skipping one train trip anyway, but after the 24 hours i spent on the train from shanghai to guilin i was pretty happy with my decision.

i got to the train station early, and thought i’d just wait around (i’d read about a ‘soft sleeper’ lounge). like buying the ticket the day before, nothing was sign posted and everything was hard to find. i sat in the big waiting hall for a while, then noticed my train number was red and the time had disappeared. i worked out something was going on with the train, but my lack of mandarin meant i didn’t know if it had been cancelled or delayed. and the hall was so noisy that when an announcement was made (in english) i couldn’t hear it anyway.

i finally found that soft sleeper lounge, and they said to me to wait there, the train was leaving at 5.15 (instead of 4.25). i went to find food, bought instant noodles and then realised the soft sleeper lounge was too posh for instant noodles because there wasn’t a hot water tap like the main hall. so i waiting patiently, and finally at 5.45 they rushed to me and said ‘go now go now!’. so i went to the train, and finally it left some time after 6.

late is fine, i am patient mostly. but this train ended up getting in around 3pm, 3 hours after it was scheduled. i had booked a transfer to my hotel, but had no idea if they’d be there. luckily, they were, and i sighed, loudly.

on the train i ate some food, briefly, but was pretty much appetiteless. i was sharing my cabin with a fancy, stripey pants man who snored, and ate instant noodles with prawns he’d brought along and added. i went to the restaurant car and for the first meal ordered rice, vegetables and chicken, thinking the meat would be good for me, but when it arrived i realised i couldn’t eat it for the bones and knuckles and so forth. so ate the fried lettuce and rice and that was it for the day. the second meal i had on the second day andjust had the rice and cabbage, which was fine. i’d even lost my sense of hunger by then, which was an interesting feeling.

and so by the time i finally got to my guesthouse, around 5pm, i’d gone over 24 hours without a proper meal and was hungry, not starving. and so ate in the restaurant of the place straight away: shredded potatoes and dumplings. just like being in sydney.