Traveling by train in China is all about choices. Slow trains, high speed trains, express trains and milk runs. Once you have waded through the myriad of speed options then you must decide on what kind of seat you want. There are five options. From the highest to lowest they include, soft berth, hard berth, soft seat, hard seat and the dreaded standing option. Don't be fooled by the term soft. There is nothing soft in China. The Chinese believe that sitting or laying on something soft is not good for your health. Mattress comfort ratings come in plywood, particle board and the extra plush ironing board. But I digress, the term soft referred to in train travel is not about padding but about how many people they can stuff into a train car. New contest! What class of travel are Nonie and I enjoying in the above picture. Send your guesses to our e-mail address as access to the blog continues to be a fight.
If Doctor J decides to give up her PHD, she can easily make a good living as a tour director. Using her highly honed doctoral skills she organized a wonderful trip to Shenyang for Nonie and I. Shenyang is located in the Liaoning Province and is the administrative hub for North East China. The area has been inhabited for over 7,200 years. It was also the birth place and for a while the capital of the Qing dynasty. There is a well maintained tomb site as well as a beautiful palace second only to the Forbidden Palace in Beijing.
We took the overnight train from Harbin arriving in Shenyang at just past 5:00 am. An all night MacDonald's serving piping hot coffee was our home for the next hour or so while we woke up and allowed the caffeine to do its work. Dropping our bags off at the hotel, the plan was to spend the morning at the Qing Tombs and the afternoon at the Palace. The tombs were magnificent and the Palace was meticulously well maintained. It was a long day capped off by a feast of chuar at a little street side restaurant. Back to the hotel and in bed by 9:00
If Doctor J decides to give up her PHD, she can easily make a good living as a tour director. Using her highly honed doctoral skills she organized a wonderful trip to Shenyang for Nonie and I. Shenyang is located in the Liaoning Province and is the administrative hub for North East China. The area has been inhabited for over 7,200 years. It was also the birth place and for a while the capital of the Qing dynasty. There is a well maintained tomb site as well as a beautiful palace second only to the Forbidden Palace in Beijing.
We took the overnight train from Harbin arriving in Shenyang at just past 5:00 am. An all night MacDonald's serving piping hot coffee was our home for the next hour or so while we woke up and allowed the caffeine to do its work. Dropping our bags off at the hotel, the plan was to spend the morning at the Qing Tombs and the afternoon at the Palace. The tombs were magnificent and the Palace was meticulously well maintained. It was a long day capped off by a feast of chuar at a little street side restaurant. Back to the hotel and in bed by 9:00
We awoke to another beautiful day. Our plans today was to visit to the site of the 2006 World Horticultural Exhibition now known as the Shenyang Botanical Gardens, located about an hour out of the city. The site was huge and contained large planted areas containing plants and trees from all over world as well as from different areas around China. The Canadian zone, was of course well endowed with maple trees and dandelions. There was much to see and we were on the move for over 5 hours. Very enjoyable day.
Back to Shenyang in the late afternoon. Time for a quick dinner at the train station before we boarded our high speed train for the four hour return trip to Harbin. Thanks Doctor J.
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