Three days in Wuhan

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"Train Ride to Wuhan"



I have stated before the feelings I have for nighttime train rides. The stagnant time which is so hard on me while sitting in a train seat. But this ride was very different as Terry and myself were lucky enough to get a place in the sleeper car of the train. Laying fully stretched out was a big difference from the stiff seats I suffered in during my last long train ride. It was an 11 to 12 hour ride but my legs appreciated not being bent for the whole ride. It still felt like time was stagnating but less harsh on my body.



I had also a few smaller changes since my lasts trip. I had a secondary bag now for the non essentials for the train ride while my courier bag held only writing and electronics devices made for travelling and work. My laptop still sat safely with the rest of my unnecessary possessions back at my main motel room in Jinhua. I was also carrying a secondary cell phone as writing tablet and music player. My last addition to my travelling tools was a power bank so I could recharge my devices while on the train, bus, or plane without losing time or switch between electronic toys. All of this may sound trivial but, during last trip, I arrived in Jinhua with a cell running on fumes causing me to worry more than I needed to do. It is a small thing to think your devices won't run out of power when you need them the most but hellish when they do.



For me, this was a better way to ride the train than simply being a prisoner to a seat. Time did seem to move faster this time as the first hour passed me by easily. I would say it was the company but, like myself, Terry indulged in his own thoughts and writing ideas. The other four sharing this triple row of beds facing each other were as quiet as we were. Possibly they were as lost in thoughts or already sleeping the dark stagnant hours away but the resulting silence was very soothing. I could not sleep yet as this was barely the beginning of a new adventure.



Terry had jokingly referred to our joints trips and exploration sessions as "The Fedora Brothers' Adventures" just because of our similar travelling hat selection. It become the symbol for the bond we shared as fellow voyagers. He may be younger than me but, in this wandering family, he was the older brother because of his experience in other countries. I have been tipping my hat to him since he originally left Canada and began this gypsy life. A path I now followed with hopes to walk it for as many years as I can before finally take one place in this big blue world to call home for the last time.



The rhythmic rumbling sway of the train and cooling air from our passage slowly started to lull me into a relaxed mood as the trip moved another hour ahead along the twin iron rails. I found myself pulling the blanket over me as I laid on my stomach upon the 2 foot (53 cm) wide lowest cot. I could still see the light from Terry's iPad mini glowing in the bunk across from me as I started feeling Orpheus calling me into dreamland. Resistance seemed unnecessary as the darkness outside the window melded with darkness inside the sleeper car. The light beside me flickered off shortly before the sound of snoring reached my ears. Sleep takes all of us this way from time to time. The world slowly blurs before our eyes then slips us into the darkness just to drift everything into a dream that lasts til dawn's first lights. Even I succumb to this call to dreaming as I'm gently rocked through the night. To quote the great bard and wordsmith himself: "to sleep, per chance to dream of better things".



Like too often, my body reacted to the train having paused on its long midnight journey by waking me up. The rain streaked widow where little streams still ran down it proved that once more we rode through a downpour. Orpheus had loosened his grip which let me escape the odd waking dream I had suffered. It was no nightmare but still disconcerting. Telling you might explain my odd anxiety at this uncomfortable waking moment. In the dream. Terry called my attention to the window with a startled ashen face. I glanced out to notice the scenery of Paris drifting slowly by as the train (this same train) was coming to a stop. It was "Les Portes d'Orlean" tramway stop where I had lived during my short week in Paris. I awoke at this point to gaze out the rain covered window into a darkly lit train station resembling any other station I had seen during my stay in China. I bit back a string of French swears to not awaken the other 5 sharing this sleeping compartment. The chance of having a second time in Paris to explore it properly must have been bothering me with Terry grand schemes to have us see many more places together discuss prior to the start of this trip. Or simply my guilt of not taking more time to truly see and write about Paris hounding me in my sleep. Whatever the reason, it left me awake once more during a train's stagnant time in the darkness of the night.



Morning found me with not only light but the sounds of the train hands selling breakfast food. Music floated through the cabin from someone cell phone, or other such device, slowly drawing everyone awake. It was softer than the rude awakening of nearly falling from my seat of previous trips. We had come to a stop on a siding for one of the multiple mysterious reason I have not had the chance to learn yet. This was just a momentary pause before the short last part of our journey. It was also the moment we discovered that Terry estimates about our arrival time was incorrect in our favour. We would be arriving at the Wucheng station in Wuhan by 9:30 (AM) instead of noonish. This would give us more time to find a hotel and settle in before needing to meet friends and seriously start our exploration of Wuhan. Terry had lived and explored this city long before I landed in Shanghai only 6 and a half weeks ago. He would take the lead on this specific journey but would not be running the show all the time because part of this trip was business for him.



"Wuhan City"



I can't really speak of wondrous sightseeing spots because we truly did not have the chance to see anything outside of the main beauty of the city. The traffic issues caused by major ongoing construction was the biggest problem we faced during this trip. But it was not without interesting developments such as the chance meeting on the bus ride from the train station. I usually avoid revealing that I am able to speak French fluently but this time it was a boon since, as we met a group of University student, my French was more useful than my English skills. One of the students was learning French as her secondary language which had me returning to my speech pattern while in Paris. This random meeting gained me a French student which is a little difficult for me as I have not seriously written in French for decades which is the discussion medium we use to communicate after they left the bus. It was also odd for me since most of the students I have collected want to learn English and not French.



Once we stepped out from the bus, I realized that this would be more of a city visit than a sightseeing tour we normally engage in. But considering how wonderful the city was, I did not see it as a problem. The major street were not only lined with trees, but thick hedge rows grew perfectly manicured along the roads. It compared higher than the streets of Jinhua in looks and regreening project ideals. We visited the open air six floored mall to purchase anything we thought we would need during our visit. It was odd looking up and seeing blue cloudless skies above my head. We walked making small comments of no real importance around this multilevel market place. Terry found what he needed and we were off again to meet an old friend that lived once more in Wuhan.



It is sometimes odd to see a new city that is so different from what you seen in the past. This was my first initial impressions of Wuhan. We meet our friend but it seem as an anticlimax, at least for my travelling companion. He had been speaking only about having a chance to meet “her” again and hoping to rekindle a past flame. He acted either as if it had never ended or as she was just a third wheel because of his nervousness. I could not help activating a small joke game me and him had started in the Architecture Park in Jinhua. “Jack, stop flirting!” blurted out of my mouth with a slight British accent. For those reader that do not know this line from “Doctor Who”, it is comment stated every time the character “Jack” would speak to women. I had said once on the bus making Terry laugh and the young ladies stare confused at us. I never really explained it once I was engaged in speaking French once more, but it came out as he kept flirting with our mutual friend. He was a little shocked at first before seeing the look of mirth in my eyes as he laughed and relaxed around her for a while.



I was a tense situation for me since our friend seemed both interested but not willing to forgive Terry for the past. I did my best to keep us moving as we walk through what was suppose to be the “Spanish Section” of Wuhan. Here is where the second reason for my Paris dream came to view. We suddenly were standing in front of a miniature version of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame made of pinkish mesa stucco. I took the time to take pictures but I must warn you now that due to a systems glitch on my cell phone, nearly all the photos I had taken were lost upon my return from this trip. It may have been the rain in Wuzhou park or simply being jostled around too much during this trip that caused this great lost but I do promise to return to Wuhan and recapture all the missing photos and added them at a later time to this blog entry. Everyone should see the beauty that can be found even in the cities of China and not just the attractions and tourist spots so talked about by too many travellers. Supper at a western restaurant was when most of the minor problems between the other two surfaced fully. As they both said next to each other more focused on the cell phone than each other, I decided to give them time alone. I returned to find them mostly glaring at each other and even more prone to ignore each other around me.



I let it drop at this point trying to help them understand each other better and simply ate. I was ready to end my day to have us start a new day quickly. We returned to the hotel and settled in for the night in our separate rooms which was done to give Terry privacy if the flames had reignited between those two. I slept quickly and was a little shocked to be awake before my friend the next morning. He was to visit a school and see about possibly returning to Wuhan permanently this coming August (which did happen eventually). This was a trip to the suburbs of Wuhan that was suppose to be only for Terry but I was dragged alone into the school to sit through the interview which I unfortunately slept during. It burned away an afternoon but I felt more rested for the potential adventure of the night. It was only a slight of a disappointment as we spent it at an outside barbeque spot that covered an empty back lot. We drank and chatted over food while coming to terms with how simply this trip would turn out being for me. Drunk and happy, we made our way back to the hotel for the night knowing another similar afternoon awaited me the next day.



This time I was allow the pleasure of roaming the area while Terry had an interview at another school in the suburbs. I did not go far from the school but was amazed at the small strips of green that sat by the roads and by the small mall like construction that sat across the street from the school. It was the one thing since my arrival in China that had me stunned and in shocked by. All this inner city green areas was something I had never truly seen in the North American cities I had visited in my past. This showed a great amount of care that was constant in China while ignored in most of the world. A balance of nature and human construction that seemed nearly as old as the city I walked in made me wonder why our society seemed so pleasing to foreigners. This may sound very jaded but, I see nothing in North America that can compare to what I have witness in the rest of the world. Even mud hut villages seemed more important and acceptable than the cold concrete cities of North America. It may be just the surprise to see such wonders withing a city that is so rare in my hometown and what I have witnessed in the North American world.



My friend returned with word that we had a supper with another of his friends in town. I expected another empty moment of having to correct him with the words “Jack, stop flirting!”, but it was not need this time around. I was the silent person that simply could not speak Chinese in the room during this meeting. It took place on the University campus which was more interesting to me. It was technical as we meet his friend's husband that taught at the University. He was scientifically minded which is more in my train of thought considering how many years I spent in College learning Chemical Engineering. I was in my element but still remain in silent wonder as I saw tools and equipment that was geared to a field I had learned about over twenty years ago. It was a wonderful moment that lead into a dinner that seemed more like a family affair than to simply being nice to a pair of foreigners.



This bring up a very important part of Chinese culture that is ignored by the world in general: hospitality. The Chinese families will go out of their way, even for a foreigner, if they show respect and acceptance to the culture they live in while being in China. It is often the reason foreign English teachers are invited to share a meal with the Chinese family. It is also done by many Chinese citizen to foreigners that show respect and a will to learn about the Chinese people and their culture like the shop owners in Jinhua that we had tea with. It is a show of acceptance that is lost in the Western World ... or specifically, the North American society. I find it as refreshing to be accepted because I am willing to accept and learn about a different culture than simply because I am a foreigner that needs to be coddled and protected. It was a great event for me as I sat and talked with all of them and showed my skills with chopsticks.



This event ended with us rushing to catch a train back to Jinhua which was only a bit of a disappointment to me. I felt I had actually seen so little of Wuhan but it was a place I could return later to see more of. The return trip was more active as Terry and myself sat in the dinning cart drinking and discussing plans for our individual futures. It was add as I realized I would soon be leaving Terry behind to adventure once more on my own. My first slice of time in China was coming to an end as my 60 days approached quicker than I thought they would. One last chance for an adventure in Jinhua before I would be off to Shenzhen to reach Hong Kong as my 60 days elapsed. Then I would be off on my own to see China with my own eyes without Terry to stand at my side until I returned to meet him in Wuhan late in August. It was a bit of a shock as I sat there drinking with him that I would be alone in China soon enough. I did not exactly fear this moment since at time I did see Terry hindering my chances to visit more of Jinhua on my own, but it was comforting having someone with me as I saw the world. I will miss this feeling but I would continue on my path as I decided when I left Canada. The world must be seen for me to be truly a real writer and human. Or so I felt at this moment.

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Comments

[Bobbin]

Took long enough hah
Took long enough brother C.