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TITLE: BACK TO 首山
LOCATION: TIANJIN --> LIAONING
MISSION: RETURN TO MY THESIS
DATE: 2012-01-31
Today I headed back to my remote little village on the Chinese countryside, before Xu Jia (许嘉) left Tianjin and not after as I had originally planned, but it will have to do. Just like the exodus that took place before the new year ("the spring movement", 春运), now all those people are returning and once more clogging up the trains. I took the D-train (动车, like X2000, but a little faster) to Shenyang where I switched to a regular K-type train for the last stretch from Shenyang to Liaoyang. Shenyang North is under renovation and you therefore HAVE to leave the station and then walk all around it to enter again, even if you are just transferring for another departure. With only 45 minutes to get off the train, have dinner and then go back in to board the next train, I was quite stressed. I don't like McDonald's nor their food, but you they sure are convenient to have around sometimes. Few are the eateries where you can order, pay, be served, eat and leave in just 15 minutes. Running with my luggage I got to the gate just as they opened and started allowing people on to the platforms. The queues were so long that I actually managed to make a quick visit the toilet and when I came back still only half of the people had been let through. Well back in Liaoyang I managed to score a taxi ride back to Shoushan for just 15元 (the regular fair for foreigners is 35) by sharing it with another guy. 15元 is cheap even for sharing (usually 20-25), which was a pleasant surprise. I left Xu Jia's place at 11:00 and arrived back at my room at 22:00, 11 hours on the road. Why do flying have to be so bad for the environment?