GETTING OFF TRAIN WAS A MAD SCRAMBLE
By Bob Van Leer

  (HUNAN PROVINCE, CHINA, Oct. 17, 1991) - This morning we were wakened at about 6:30 by Chinese music on the loud-speaker. There is the usual haze in the air.

  Over the night the country changed almost exclusively to rice. All the fields are green now. Our train is the classic "milk run". We don't pass many stations without stopping.

  Trains are one of the principal means of transporting people. At each large station there is a mad scramble of people getting off and on.

  Vendors meet each train with food for those who are not served on the train. The hills too steep to terrace for rice paddies are forested, mostly pines.

Noodle Breakfast

  Breakfast was noodles and scrambled eggs, cured sausage, cucumbers, rice, mushroom soup, dumplings and a dab of french fries. Cutlery served for meals here is a pair of chopsticks and a ceramic spoon for the soup.

  By now most of our party was using chopsticks and becoming comfortable with them. The cook for our first-class cabin came out and we all gave him a hand. One pleasant thing in China is there is no tipping, none, anywhere.

  Sanitation was not the long suit on this train trip. The chef had on clothes that were once white but that was some time back. Later the sun came out, the first time in days. North of Guilin we saw the first citrus trees. The train will stop in Guilin for only 16 minutes so we organized.

  Most of our group exited the train in a hurry. Some of the younger men stayed inside and passed suitcases out the windows. Myself and others outside caught them. We got ourselves and all the baggage off with time to spare.

Unique In World

  Guilin's scenery is unique in the world. The town sits on a lush, green plain surrounded by rounded towers of stone, some of the strangest mountains we have ever seen. They are steep, rounded towers of limestone.

  The landscape is featured in many pictures and paintings of China. The city and surrounding area has a population of 1.2 million according to our hosts. In China this is not too large a city. Because of the surrounding strange hills, called karst formations, Guilin is becoming a tourist stop.

  Our hosts proudly told us that Guilin is now the fourth most visited tourist spot in China after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. We went from the train to our hotel, of all things, a Holiday Inn. 

Reed Flute Cave

  We looked forward to showers after two days on the train, but our rooms were not ready so we went on our first tour of the city, the Reed Flute Cave. Limestone everywhere is good cave country and this cave is first class.

  Guilin is an old town, founded in the Qing Dynasty more than 2000 years ago. There are few signs in English in this city.

  In the evening dinner was on our own and we dined in the western dining room. We have had enough Chinese food for a while.

  Tomorrow we are to start the day with a boat cruise on the Li River that runs through Guilin.