Beijing Train Trip

The 16th of November marks the day during which I embarked on a train trip to the capital city of China, Beijing with my parents and grandparents. This trip would be of two “firsts”. One being my first 24-hour train ride in a cabin, and the other being my first trip to Beijing. The rest of my family had already been to the country before, and I was anxious to go there too. I had read much about the country on the newspapers before, and wanted to visit the tourist spots, most of which were remains of Chinese culture.

The train cabins were very small, with a one-person width, and about three metres long. The cabin did not have any door, and had two bunk beds of three levels each. Looking back, the cabins seemed quite badly furnished. The top and middle layers were not even tall enough to sit up straight! Luckily, the bottom layer allowed more head space. The train we took there was quite empty, with most cabins only having one or two people inside. As a result, our cabin ended up being the most cram.

During most of the trip, we played a four player card game to keep us busy. There was not much else to do on the train – there was no television, and the train rocked too much for me to read my book. What was worse was that we had not brought enough snacks to eat! The people from other cabins were all prepared, bringing along snacks like peanuts and instant noodles. As a result, we were forced to buy the food from the train. To my surprise, the food, although relatively cheap, was quite good!

The train ride was a good chance for us to rest well before our hectic schedules in Beijing. I really enjoyed the experience – the small place proved its coziness, and I managed to interact more with my grandparents and get to understand them better. At the end of the trip, my feelings about the trip were bittersweet - a mix of enjoyment yet a feeling that I did not want to take such a train ride in the near future. This reminded me that I still had to take the train back to Hong Kong, making me think of how I should prepare for it!

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Hi guys, I'm a student in Singapore, and this are some thoughts and essays I have written over the years.