Train travel. My rail travel experience was very limited before I came to China. What it amounted to was a couple two or three hour Amtrak rides back home. Upon coming to China, I was informed that I'd be taking the train from Hangzhou to Beijing. I was exceptionally excited about this. The T-32 Hangzhou-Beijing express route. It was early Feburary, the air was crisp, my bags were packed and I was ready to go. I had spent a lonely three weeks in Hangzhou and was excited to get to Beijing. I was taking the 16 hour train ride alone, I didn't speak Chinese, and I was actually a little nervous. I had been seen off at the train station and after my company left, I was left to negotiate teeming masses of train station humanity, Chinese instructions to go to this platform, signs indicating the right way that were completely useless to me. I have no trouble asking people for help and I met someone who was kind enough to show me to my car. I got on, stowed my bags, and cracked a beer. I was eager for the train to start rolling, my only regret was that it was pitch black outside and my first chance to see Chinese countryside would have to wait until the sun came up some 9 hours later. I fell asleep on my bunk and awoke somewhere in Shandong province to the sight of brilliant white. It had snowed a good six inches. It was beautiful, but consequently the train was late. I had begun to get extremely bored and restless, not talking to anyone and only having my walkman to console me. By nine o'clock I was uncomfortable. I needed to walk. I kept looking at my watch and the minutes slowly passed, along with the scenes of row upon row of fields and peasants going about their work. We made a quick stop at a small train depot, and I was informed by kind woman that the train was delayed three hours due to the snow. My heart sank. I thought we were almost there, and I was wrong. I got to Beijing finally with a made up mind that train travel was not for me. I have since taken the same T-32 express from Hangzhou to Beijing, and have travelled from Beijing to southern Shandong. Although I strongly dislike this outdated form of travel, it's economical, and that single fact usually pushes me into the train car. I look forward to settling somehwhere for longer than six months so that trains can become a memory rather than something I use from time to time.