We’ve now arrived at our summer volunteer position. Classes start Monday.
In the past two weeks, we’ve been to Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Beijing and now Sichuan Province. Whew! That’s a long trip, take a look at a map. First we took a taxi two hours to Wuhan where we boarded the “bullet train.” It traveled at a top speed of 301 kmh, or 180 mph. We took the first class tickets. That car was spacious, comfortable and full. Everything was clean. The large windows gave us a clear view of the countryside. We had room for our luggage at the front of the car, and our seats were quite close to it. We traveled a distance of about 1100 kilometers in about three hours. Until the bullet train began in April of this year, this trip took about 12 hours on the ordinary train.
In Shenzhen, we met with dear friends who were formerly my students. It is such an honor to visit with vibrant young people in the vibrant young city of Shenzhen. Thirty years ago, Shenzhen had 30,000 people. Today, it has ten million people, most of them young adults. It is the city of manufacturing in China. When Chinese people speak of “going out” to work, they mean going to Shenzhen. “Urbanization” is the plan in China these days.
I asked the young people how exactly to get to Hong Kong. I stressed that convenience was my priority. One called her friend who recommended we take the boat. To get to the boat, we’d take a taxi, then the boat, then another taxi. “What are the time choices for the boat?” we asked. She called him again. “The boat goes only once a day, in the early morning.” So, we would have to leave quite early in a taxi in morning traffic. If we got there late, we would be stranded at the dock, having missed the boat. So, we rejected that option, even though it seemed quite romantic. The next choice was taking a taxi to the border, then getting another taxi on the other side. It sounded good to me, but the young people thought it was “too expensive,” so on to the next choice, the train. The young man insisted it was the easiest and least expensive. Although I protested weakly, that choice won out. We are speaking now of the subway train. In the morning traffic when everyone goes to work, we boarded the train with our excessive baggage: three large duffel type suitcases, a back pack for me, a carry on bag for husband, and two computers in carry bags, one having the printer as well. The doors open, people get off, then the throng presses in, the door closes, then the train moves. Better hang on if you can find a strap or bar. The car is packed with more people than the designer had in mind. We had a transfer point, and then went to end of the line which is the Hong Kong border. The station is huge and we could barely find our way. We were standing with all our stuff and I saw a woman with a little cart and her shopping boxes on it. “I wish I had a little cart,” I thought, and immediately a man with a big cart approached us, loaded up our stuff and took us to where we needed to go. It was a long walk, and by ourselves, we would not have found our way. I began to ponder how much this service was costing us, and fixed on a figure I thought was reasonable. Of course, there’s no bargaining after you have surrendered your stuff and it is strapped to a cart. Our friends had told us “Everyone in Hong Kong speaks English.” But, you see, we weren’t quite into Hong Kong yet. So, when I asked “How much?” one of the few Chinese phrases I can say well enough to be understood in context, the man said the figure I had thought it would be. Husband began to try to bargain, but I opened my wallet. On the first train on the Hong Kong side, we figured out it was our stop just a little too late, and the bag jammed in the door, the alarm sounded and I was calling out, “I can’t do it” when I pulled the bag through the door and got off. The Chinese woman who told us it was the right stop was laughing at us. I guess it was hilarious.
It was a long and tiring day, and my shoulders ached from carrying the two computer bags and my backpack as I wheeled the large red shuttle bag. Husband admitted that carrying my large duffel, as he wheeled his duffel with his carry on bag was just the limit for him. As we tried to figure out the exit from the subway, I stood by a wall while he went up and out to see where exactly the hotel was. Amazingly enough, it was right at the top of the stairs of the subway station! We stayed at the Salisbury YMCA, right on the water front. The first night we watched from our room the light show that plays every night. Another night we went down by the waterfront to see it. I thought of other light shows, such as Stone Mountain Georgia, and I wondered about our modern fascination with electronic light. What happened to watching the moon, for example? We also went to the art museum there on the waterfront, free on Wednesdays, and paid a small admission to the special exhibit, titled “A Lofty Retreat from the Red Dust: the Secret Garden of Emperor Qianlong.”
As to the visas, it was a less than successful journey. The school had sent the wrong paperwork, so we could not get the proper visas. We now have tourist visas, and they are good only until July 25. The original visas were good until July 10, so, we gained only two weeks with the Hong Kong trip. The school will have to do something about this now, it is out of our hands. This is our life: step by step, day by day. In your life, you might think you know what’s coming next, but the truth may well be different.