Night Train to Xian

THE NIGHT TRAIN TO XI'AN:
The cab driver knew exactly where to go, thank goodness. Beijing seemed so big - there are about 5 train stations. It took about 45 minutes of urban driving. Some of the restaurants here are amazingly huge - 4 stories, sprawling 1/2 a block, ornately decorated with illuminated lanterns. I think the Chinese like to eat out.

We left from the West Station. It was big, with blaring billboards in chinese characters flashing and blinking. Airport-type security is right out on the sidewalk - you have to immediately put your bags on the belts before entering the building. They have stainless steel barries for crowd control as soon as you step out of the taxi. You cannot enter the building if you don't have a ticket. Once inside the departures/arrival boards were well marked in both English and Chinese characters. It was incredibly clean and easy to figure out. We found the train number and figured out that it was leaving from platform 4 in waiting room 4. Each waiting room accommodated about 4-5 platforms. Again, the waiting room, which is bigger than anything I'd ever seen, was cram packed with people. As soon as one train boarded, we were able to get seats. Each waiting room had their own bathrooms and snack counters.

Boarding the train was very orderly. We rode down a very long escalator with our bags and asked a porter to point to our car number. We got on and found our berth. We were riding soft-sleeper on a Z train. The Z trains are all sleepers with 4-bunks per compartment. They were already made up with sheets and quilts. Our roommate was a young girl who was extremely shy and went right to sleep and didn't get up until we had arrived 11 hours later. It was incredibly comfortable and smooth riding. The bathrooms were much cleaner than anything I'd seen on Amtrak, although I'm sure not all Chinese trains are created equal. Just to give you an idea of how many people move around China - there were 4 sleeper trains to Beijing all departing within a few minutes of each other, plus some hard-sleeper and chair trains. We settled down. No one bothered us and the train didn't stop for 11 hours so you don't have the noise and commotion of people getting on and off. Lovely. I was excited and comfy. For the first time in years, Gary did not snore. We departed and arrived perfectly on time and rested.

It was cold and rainy when we came out of the station in Xi'an but a smiling representative from the hostel was standing by the exit with a sign and our name. We had to wait awhile for the minivan to show up, but it gave us a chance to observe the huge scale of yet another busy train station. Not as modern as Beijing, but incredibly colorful and busy. And yes, right outside on the street was a KFC on one corner and a McDonalds on the other.