jinan

the security guys at the shenzhen west train station scrutinized my ticket before letting me through into the station building. next, i got my backpack x-rayed and myself patted down. the waiting hall was organized according to the scheduled train number. i joined the section allocated to my train – seems that you are not allowed onto the platform until the train is there, and then it is straight from the waiting hall onto the train. no wonder that the platforms looked completely deserted as we passed them by on the trip. the train itself was clean and comfortable, but no sign of any snake charmers or tea-wallahs.

on the train, i had two young women sitting opposite heading to weihai and so also getting off at jinan, and a young man going most of the way to jinan. the three of them played cards for most of the time. a version of gin rummy, i think. it was a long way to jinan, about 20 hours or so. we slept as best we could in the seats. the attendants would come round with their trolleys of food and drinks on a regular basis. my companions would buy me pot noodles and fill it up with hot water. of course it tasted very ‘plasticky’ and chemical-like, but better than nothing. i was offered chicken feet too. i tried one. never again.

i was taking the long trip north because i wanted to visit my only chinese connection in china. i knew jing from when we met in chester, at the same digs she was sharing with eliza. she had just got back from her long 4-year adventure in the uk and was happy to hear that i was coming to china. i got a text from her to say that she was going to be passing through qingdao in some days before going home to weihai, and so i decided to stay some days in jinan.

when we arrived at the station, the girls helped me to find an internet place. it was hidden in a dark basement under a restaurant, and full of kids playing computer games. i was waiting for a reply to my couchsurfing requests from jinan, and luckily there was one positive reply, from holly. i tried to phone her but there was no reply. i wrote down the address, and a friend of the girls who had met them at the station tried to help me by telling me how to get a taxi to holly’s place. it was night and jinan looked a bit imposing at this hour... i had no idea about where this place was or how long it would take to get there. i asked if there was a bus going there...  it would be complicated... and the guys must have seen the apprehension on my face and so decided to come with me in a taxi. great! we finally located the building and the guys took me to where the guards were sat in their booth. i tried to phone holly again, and then finally, i got through... the guy talked to her and told me that she would be there in 10 minutes. and then they were gone. i hope i managed to convey my thanks to these great guys who went out of their way to help me.

holly turned out to be a totally cool girl; plus she could speak english very well. which was just as well because my mandarin was non-existent. and she and her mum could cook very well too. i was communicating with her brother with the help of our respective laptops and google translation. she was busy working so had no time to show me around, but she gave me a map and told me some places to check out.

i found the black tiger springs easily enough after getting a bus into the centre. and then ‘food street’ where i was trying different street food and popping into what looked like a popular noodle place. of course i couldn’t read any of the menu items posted on the wall, and just ended up pointing to various dishes that were being eaten by the others sat there. then to the lake and had a peaceful walk around there, a good antidote to the insane amount of traffic on the roads. i went to jinan east train station and managed to book the train ticket to qingdao all by myself. happy about that... just had to show the chinese characters i had copied off google for ‘qingdao’ and ‘jinan east’, and the date and time and train number i had copied from the chinese train schedule website.

the next day, i went shopping for indian spices as i had agreed to cook my, by now trademark,  ‘alu gobi sabji’ dish for holly and her family. jinan was very hot and i was happy to escape the heat by walking through some malls and shops. i got a new camera case to replace the one i'd lost at munger mandhir in vrindavan. casually window shopping at the laptops and pcs, i was besieged by the young salespeople. they were all keen to get me to buy their computers. a small feeling of celebrity came over me. in the end, i felt obliged to look at all the different marks, from apple to lenova to samsung.

later, i found what looked like a fast-food restaurant with free wifi. i went inside and it was completely deserted except for the staff who were casually sitting at the tables chatting with each other. when they saw me, i think they were a little shocked because it took them a little time to react and get to their positions behind the tills and in the kitchen. surprised at getting a customer? or surprised at seeing a strange foreigner? or both?! of course, i was obliged to order something... again i just pointed to the picture of what looked like fried noodles. it looked expensive and the food when it came was not very delicious! no wonder this place was empty, but at least i got to use their wifi for free and escape the heat.

back at holly’s place, i started to cook. by the time i was finished, we were joined by some of her friends and another couchsurfer. it was a successful evening, and i was glad to have repaid some of the hospitality. i got the bus early the next morning to the train station and awaited my next adventure.