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September 2. Ride the subway to Beijing Central Station. Once there the excitement of the train trip ahead wipes out any disappointment at not being able to go all the way to the DPRK (North Korea). Central Station is a beautiful and imposing structure, and well used. Inside through the high-ceilinged lobby and upstairs to the gates, with the message board flashing and the loudspeaker blaring in Chinese. The boarding area, a long decorated hall. I'm not entirely certain this is the right train, until the Kim Jong Il flag pins some of the passengers are wearing tell me this is the train to Pyongyang. Hauled by a new-looking electric locomotive; about twenty cars long. We leave right on time and roll fast out of Beijing. It feels like welded rail though I can't be sure, as we cross over bridges and canals and more rail yards with engines idling in the dusk. I share a sleeper compartment with three others; four bunks in the room. The price is about $50 US for an overnight trip. There are also chairs outside in the corridor for another view out the window. I join a fellow passenger for dinner in the dining car. Baked fish and vegetables and soup and black Chinese mushrooms and rice. We talk over a glass of beer as the train rolls into the night. Afterwards I am ready for bed. I sleep solidly and wake up hours later as we pass steel mills and huge dark cities. Flat forests, and another train, bound for Moscow. As dawn approaches forested mountains and rivers give way to cornfields and farming villages. This has been an express train and we have stopped only several times on our 14-hour trip to the Korean border. In heavy fog we approach Dandong and the Yalu River. This is as far as I will go, but there is still the Great Wall of China and the city to enjoy. Next time would bring bottled water along, as there were not hot-water boilers in the car. In all a comfortable and quite memorable trip.
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