The bullet train tickets were seated tickets in a
sleeper car. There were more people than beds, with compartment companions
changing en-route. I was expecting even less sleep than I originally
anticipated. Because the seats were beds, they were difficult to lean back on
comfortably and take on a snooze. Though the train itself was luxurious, with a
TV screen per bed!
Luckily, I had really friendly and communicative
compartment mates. From the left (each other person wrote their name in Chinese
for me):
Me;
Weiying Wang (English name Jessie) - it seems
usual for Chinese people below a certain age to have an English name. She was
studying Electrical Engineering, and with good English, we were able to talk
about the ins and outs of the IT industry.
Tian Li Hua: On the way home to Chongqing... to
find a husband?
Zhou Ting: Quiet but plesant. She let me munch on
her dried fish.
Qin Zuzhou: In his first year at university, and
excited about having an English speaker in the carriage.
We played card tricks until we each curled into a
nook or cranny somewhere, trying to sleep, odd people taking it in turns on the
top bunk to get proper sleep. I got two hours of proper sleep on the top bunk in
the early hours of the morning!
