Rhodes5 in Deutschland: China - Day 5 (Back to Chongqing)

We had to go back to Chongqing today. We could have easily spent a lot more time in Qianjiang. It is such a beautiful city. For only having 100,000 people, there is so much to see and do. We had breakfast at the hotel and then went off to try to find a magent (I collect magnets) before our train left at noon. Our friend asked everywhere, but because Qianjiang is definitely not a tourist town - they had nothing (not even a post card). She suggested that we go to the post office and maybe get them to stamp the Qianjiang stamp on some paer (which was a cute and clever keepsake - I never would have thought of it). So that we did, and maybe I will have to create my own magnet somehow from thestamp :-).

We made the train on time and played more cards and people watched. The train is funny thing. There really is no personal space. People might be riding the train for 40 hours and so they really make themselves at home. Laying, standing, kneeling on seats, playing cards, entertaining children. It is such an interesting thing to see. The 2 not so nice aspects were: to spit on the floor is totally acceptable and luckily no one had to use the bathroom (I'll just leave it at that!). Our friend said that during Chinese New Year, the train is packed with people sleeping on the floor and standing. Unlike most train systems, you are able to get a ticket without a seat (meaning you would stand up the entire time or sit on the floor). Quite different. The most impressive part though, was that the cost of the 4 hour train ride (for us with a reserved seat) was equivilent to $7 each. A definite bargain and it makes it affordable for most people.

On the train ride home, our friend got a message asking her if we would consider being interviewd for the newspaper. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but asked Mia what she thought and she was very excited. I tried to really base things on this trip off of Mia's feelings and was surprised at how open and enthusiastic she was with EVERYTHING. The reprter scheduled a meeting with us the next day (our friend would come too and translate for us - Yikes!.

We arrived back in Chongqing and had to say goodbye to our friend. She was such a gift for us during the trip and we really could not have done it without all of her help. She was amazing and definitely a friend now for life. We even named the new card game we learned after her :-). After our goodbyes at the train station, we took 2 taxis back to our hotel and then walked around outside in the evening. This was definitely a happening area and we were excited to see what looked like a huge Marathon all set up right in front of our apartment (and it was scheduled for the next morning). We were excited to watch!