Sleeper train to Beijing

   I had to get to Beijing for a meeting with one of our factories on Tuesday morning. Originally, I had a flight that I was going to take that was leaving Shanghai early that morning but it ended up getting canceled a few days before. I got rescheduled on a flight that was going to get me into Beijing too late for the meeting. The office director was also going to the meeting on the same flight and suggested that we take an overnight train to Beijing so we would arrive early and still be able to attend the meeting. A flight the night before and staying at a hotel would have been easier but it wasn't in our budget so an overnight sleeper train would be our way!

   So after work on Monday I grabbed a quick dinner with Oliver then he showed me what bus to catch to take me to the right train station (there are 4 of them in Shanghai so you always need to triple check which station you leave from). From there I made it to the station pretty easily, got through security (which is not nearly as complicated as airports) and found the lounge from which my train would be leaving from. I was going to meet Mark here before boarding the train.

    I know this isn't an interesting picture above but I'm using it as a reminder of telling you all that I was confused when I went to use the bathroom. The sign clearly showed that the restrooms for the M's and W's were the same area. When I got to the door, I thought I had mad a mistake b/c I all could see was men inside chain-smoking...had I found the smoking lounge??!? So I backed away and re-looked at the bathroom sign and then saw a women heading that way (obviously heading to the bathroom). She walked all the way in that smoky room and swung a hard right at the very end...so i followed. Yes, it was the bathroom but it was mostly being used for people to smoke in. It was thick with cigarette smoke...so disgusting!

The lounge and all the people waiting for the same train to Beijing.

At some point all these seats were being used.

Check out the sleeping quarters. I shares a cabin with my director and 2 strange Chinese men.
What an odd experience!

   It was, honestly, a terrible night of sleeping. I had 2 snorers in my cabin; at least I had remembered my earplugs. It was just odd sleeping in the same clothes that I wore that day on a train that was making several stops along the way and with 2 strangers sharing the same space. I slept for a couple of hours but then just kind of rested for the other time. There was 1 bathroom for 40 people on our one train-car to share and a small wash area with 2 sinks for cleaning up and brushing teeth. It was a very China-experience and glad that I did it once but won't be running back to do it again anytime soon!

    Mark and I were getting picked up by the factory at the train station. We waited outside for our ride to show up for quite awhile. After about 5 phone calls and then having a random Chinese guy call our driver it was figured out that they were not at the right train station. So we waited even longer in the very cold Beijing weather for them to drive across the city to come get us. I was very happy that I packed a warm hat (courtesy of Donald's mom!), warm mittens (courtesy of my mom!) and a warm down jacket (thank you work!).  It was so good when we actually got picked up and got inside a warm car.

sunny, cold Beijing

The Great Hall of People, seat of the Chinese legislature

   So I didn't actually get to tour around at all but Mark asked the driver if they could drive past Tian'an Men Square for me. I got a couple good shots from the car :)

Tian'an Men Square!

Entrance to the Forbidden City. Fact: Chairman Mao proclaimed the founding
of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 from the Ming Dynasty Gate.
His huge portrait is still there!

   Then it was off to the factory to discuss some quality issues that we were having. There was a lot of testing that we preformed to try to solve the problems together. Here's some of the machinery we used...there was a lot of adjusting of pressure, temperature and timing. I've really enjoyed being hands-on with the factories during my time in Shanghai...what a great experience.