Day 2: Hong Kong - Guangzhou - Sep 21, 2009 - Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

This was a day of travelling... punctuated only with brief, but almost unbearable periods outside in the heat and humidity, where we just hurried to the next mode of transport.

First up was a fairly ordinary taxi ride, except for witnessing one of those overloaded bicycles crashing into the back of another taxi. The bicycle rider seemed to have hurt his stomach and the taxi driver was not impressed by his broken indicator light, but neither of them seemed concerned that the bicycle goods were now strewn all over two lanes of the road (mind you, no-one drove over them, which I thought might have happened).

China proper began at the ferry terminal. Was it my imagination, or are the Chinese guards and customs people here putting on their strictest faces? At the immigration counter, where there was an extra guard on each terminal overseeing the other, there were some buttons that attracted my attention on the counter infront of me:- two were green, smiley faces with comments of "good personal service" and "satisfactory", and the other two were red, frowning faces saying "impersonal service" and "not attentive". I SO much wanted to see what would happen if I pressed one of the red buttons, but could imagine myself being whisked away to a communist jail, so I didn't dare.

I'm getting quite used to the "ways" over here. On the ferry to Guilin I tried to go upstairs to take a photo but was quickly barred saying it cost 10 yuan (A$2). They're very quick off the mark to make any extra money, so I found a semi-clear window downstairs to take my photo instead. Others in my group were actually told to sit down and to stop wandering around the ferry. No wonder we were getting quite a few stares.

And the Chinese seem to specialise in queuing. At the immigration on the Chinese side we queued, and one at a time were allowed to join a queue just 5 metres infront of us. I'm not joking, but there were two more queues in quick succession, before getting out of the building.

With my feet now on Chinese soil, I had my first trip to a good 'ole squat toilet - yes, dark, dirty and smelly - just as I'd remembered them from other countries that use the squat!

The bus to Guangzhou drove through some big industrial parts, and areas where construction is taking place in mammoth proportions. This country is really developing very fast. Our tour guide, Tomic, is very informative, often calling out tidbits of information about the places we were driving through, or something about the history or culture.

Then we arrived at the main train station in Guangzhou, only to, yes, you guessed it, queue some more! Even before getting into the train station there was a queue to check passports (Chinese only, us westerners were just let through) and a second queue to check tickets. Only then did we get near to the station entrance, where they x-rayed all our baggage, made us drink from our water bottles (to prove it was just water) and punched IDs into palm computers of people who they thought looked dodgy. Before putting out luggage in the luggage room, the attendant made us unzip our bags and had a quick look through. It was really just an act, not a proper search, like she was just going through a routine to be seen to be doing her job.

I'd expected everything to be different and so it is. We went to a local fast-food noodle bar, where the waitress would not let me order either of my first two choices! In the end she pointed to a picture on the menu card and said that was what I was to have - who am I to argue? Yes, I can hear my brother saying now, "Communist China"! Thankfully it was very tasty - beef, potatoes and rice in a tangy, sweet sauce.

Did a quick spot of grocery shopping, trying out my Mandarin, which is working quite well. I've asked for tickers, bottled water and toilets so far, and they seem quite chuffed by my little attempts!

Our overnight train K36 was due to leave at 6.05pm, and fifteen minutes before boarding there were about a thousand people crowded into the waiting room with us. Never fear, as soon as the gates opened, everyone rushed out, us including, to get to their seat. Ours were already reserved, but I soon found out that the idea is to beat everyone so you don't have to try to get past people in the narrow corridors.

Our hard sleeper berths were just as in the pictures that I'd seen on the internet, and yes, they were hard! The mattress is like a stone slab, just like the one in Hong Kong - literally, there is no give at all. Sheets, pillows and a quilt were supplied, but it was impossible to sleep. The air-conditioning went off when the lights went off, and in a short space of time my upper bunk was unbearable, even with me fanning myself to get some air. As I was about to climb down to breathe, other people started to complain, so our guide got up and spoke to the guard. But even with the air-conditioning I still only slept five minutes at a time. All my valuables (including my shoes!) were squished in around me, so I couldn't move, and with the constant jolting of the train (not to mention that at times it seemed like we were crashing into things), that by 6.15am it was better for me to get up.