4/6/2009 Train to Xinyu

Our day began with another wonderful breakfast at the hotel. The hotel was so nice that I hated to leave. Claire's family took us to the Beijing train station at 10:30 AM. We hired someone to get our bags to our soft sleeper. The girls got to meet the stewards while we waited to board.

At about 12:30 PM, we were on our way, taking quite some time to exit Beijing, a city of 30 million people. We would start in wheat country and end in rice country. There were new things to see and old things to see. China has changed, but is still the same in many ways. Construction is going on everywhere. Satellite dishes and passive solar water heaters dotted the house and apartment tops. Once night fell, I saw fireworks, part of the Qing Ming Festival, which pays homage to the dead and includes burning fake paper money, and visiting ancestors' tombs. The girls enjoyed snacks and jumping around.

Mr. Wu tried his hand at Uno for the first time.

China rolled by vast and mysterious. I awoke before the dawn to see the many lights dotting the countryside. As dawn appeared, I could tell things were much greener, with many ponds and paddies...this is rice country. It seems that people are much better off economically than when I traveled the trains 12 years ago. Even the train is nicer, much quieter, smoother, all-electric and the trip took about half the time it used to. When we arrived in Xinyu at about 9 AM, we were greeted by Claire's mother, brother, and sister-in-law. Everyone was happy and smiling. Claire was home again.