Two friends of mine were in Shenzhen for the weekend so I decided to stop over and see them. Shenzhen, a big city of about 9 million people, is located right across the border from Hong Kong and was just a short trip from where I was in Guilin: 13 hours by train. For China travel, that’s considered nearby so nobody thought I was crazy to travel for 13 hours in order to see friends for just 2 days.
At the train station in Guilin, I had my first introduction to Chinese “public” toilets. I’ve gotten use to the fact that most toilets in China are “squat toilets” but here in the train station the “trough toilets” were far worse than anything I had seen before and smelly! This type of toilet consists of door-less stalls with a long trough running through the stalls (sometimes with running water but most often not). You basically squat over the trough while trying not to look over at your neighbor doing her business (who is typically squatting while texting on their cell phone – a funny sight). Since the trough is shared by many people it’s common to see other people’s poo floating by. Not the most pleasant experience!
My first introduction to China toilets!
China trains have several different seating options for travel but the ones I was most concerned with involved sleeping: hard sleeper and soft sleeper. Hard sleeper has open compartments with 6 bunks (upper/middle/lower). Soft sleeper has compartments with 4 bunks (upper/lower) and the luxury of a door. Since hard sleeper is quite a bit cheaper and I was only taking a short 13 hour train ride I decided that was the way to go. Miraculously the travel agent had booked me the middle bunk which was a godsend once I actually stepped onto the train. Turns out that everyone sits on the lower bunk during the day and well into the night and the upper bunk is where the speakers and lights are so if you are trying to sleep it’s nearly impossible. The middle bunk was perfect and from then on I would always request the middle bunk anytime I took the train (which was often).
Hard sleeper on China trains
The 13 hour train ride was a breeze (except for the fact that I was near the disgusting toilets (a hole in the floor that empties onto the track) which also happened to be the place that all the chain-smoking men hung out) and I arrived to Shenzhen in the morning. I met up with Charles and Henry who were all set to do a little shopping at the famous “Lo Wu Shopping Center”. This is the place you dream about coming to for cheap knock-off brands but I have to admit it was a little too intense for me.
After a delightful Chinese dinner (with something like 20 dishes) we treated ourselves to $5 Chinese foot massages. The masseuse took one look at my feet and demanded that first she scrape off all the dead skin with something that resembled a chisel. I guess that’s what happens to your feet when you live shoeless on a boat for 4 months.
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