Overnight train to Huangshan
Tuesday 1st December 2009
Train K26 – Shenzhenxi to Nanjingxi
Originally uploaded by yabbox
My last entry explained my stressful journey from Hong Kong to Shenzhen Xi Train Station. That is where I boarded this train to Huangshan.
Shenzhen Xi is a little used train station in the industrial part of Shenzhen. The K25/K26 train service is a privately run route from ShenZhen West 深圳西 to Nanjing West 南京西. I’ll be travelling as far as Huangshan 黄山.
I didn’t know there were private train lines in China and apart from the branding in the restaurant car, it is little different from any other train journey in China.
My soft sleeper cabin was tidy enough, but the carriage was certainly showing it’s age and not as clean and practical as the modern soft sleeper carriages found on more popular ‘tourist’ routes. Just little things like an electric outlet in the cabin, electric touch open doors, cleaner toilets. But it is quite serviceable and not very busy, so I’m sure the overnight journey will go by without problem.
Probably the most interesting thing on the train are the bilingual signs, like, ‘please take good care of your kids’. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of social guidance popping up in strange places now is there!
It reminds me of other signs I’ve seen on trains, telling you to ‘throw garbage in it’ or to ‘beware of nipping hands on sliding doors’.
I ate in the dining car twice, first for lunch with the rest of the train crew and secondly for dinner, with the rest of train who were mostly army cadets. The food was cheap and spicy. The staff cheerful but sour.
Despite travelling north through China from the relative humidity of Shenzhen to the desperate cold of Anhui, the air conditioner stayed on throughout the night, humming away and keeping the cabin like a fridge.
I woke up at around 6am the next morning and peering back the curtains of the cabin had a lovely view. It’s not every day in China you see green mountains and picturesque rice terraces. My camera was lying on the coffee table and I snapped this through the hazy window.
The train was meant to arrive in Huangshan at 07:33 but strangely it was a little delayed, pulling in to the small station around 15 minutes late. I had an hour to wait for Chris and after checking my bags into left luggage in the main hall (for ¥5!) I set off in search of a bank and breakfast. The Bank of China was on Hehua Lu, and just next door the morning market, which sold all sorts of fun and strange foodstuffs from pickled vegetables like bamboo, seaweed, to fresh fruit, live birds, dried spices, fish jumping from their bowls and more. The staff were all super friendly and welcomed my photo-taking.
Just outside I found a little shop selling some delicious hand pulled noodles in a spicy meaty broth (for ¥6!). A perfect breakfast and a perfect hour killed waiting for the train from Shanghai to arrive. I went back to the station, saw how much of Huangshan is being redeveloped and arranged a taxi to take us to the foot of the mountain…
K26 train route is as follows:
ShenZhen West 深圳西 – Bantian 坂田 – Dongguan East 东莞东 – Huizhou 惠州 – Heyuan 河源 – Longchuan (Guangdong) 龙川 – Ganzhou 赣州 – Jian (Jiangxi) 吉安 – Xiangtang 向塘 – Yingtan 鹰潭 – Lepingshi 乐平市 – Jingdezhen 景德镇 – Huangshan (Anhui) 黄山 – Jixixian 绩溪县 – Xuancheng 宣城 – Wuhu 芜湖 – Maanshan 马鞍山 – Nanjing 南京 – Nanjing West 南京西.
