Today is October 1st, the National Day for the People’s Republic of China. It is one of the two biggest holiday weeks in China (the other is Chinese New Year). This week, most Chinese people take the trains to their hometowns to visit their families, so it is one of the worst times to travel in China. I was getting on the train.
My plan is to go visit the hometown of a friend. And this hometown is actually a small village about an hour north of the city of Chengde, in Heibei Province. The four-hour train left at 6:30AM. My friend bought tickets a week earlier, so we had seat numbers. Many other people did not. We squeezed on the train and kicked the people out of our seats. The train was so crowded it was a struggle to get to the seats, there were people filling all the walkways. The luggage racks were filled with all sorts of bags, many looked like potato sacks, others looked to be made out of old blue jeans. There was also luggage on the floor, making zero foot room, but at least I didn’t have to stand for 4 hours like some people.
A Chinese army man was sitting across from me. Some people were having a conversation about the Tiananmian square incident in 1989. The man said me was there and explained how he only saw the army shooting guns into the air, not at students. I was surprised to see people talk about this openly.
First, I arrived at Chengde, then took a local bus past the Summer Resort of the Chinese emperors, and to the end of the line. I noticed a lot of people staring at me here. I thought I must be getting closer to this village where a foreigner has never visited.
The final leg of my trip was a car ride from one of the relatives in the family. We continued north through a valley of corn fields on a well built road. My friend said her cousin died as a child crossing this road since the cars drive so fast. Down a short side road was the village including the family’s home. I had some lunch, looked around the village, and at about 4PM had a nap, dinner, and then went to bed at 7PM.