45s late

Today, we continued our criss-crossing of China. This time, we went from Shanghai to Yangshou in the South. About 1600km. The find penguins software thinks we flew, but of course, we took the high-speed train. This time, it went at a modest 300km/h. En route, there were about 10 stops in cities people in the west have never heard of, but they are all huge cities. Nanching ( 6 million), Pingxiang ( 1.8 million), Zhucheng (1.1 million),Hengyangdong (6.6 million), and so on. It's not surprising that the names are less well known since China has over 100 cities of more than a million.

This is a bit clichéd, but most of these big cities look the same, namely endless sets of towers. The one big positive is that wherever possible, the chinese plant trees, shrubs, and plants, so despite the faceless towers, the streets are green and pleasant.

Small panic today at the train entry gate since my ticket didn't work ( one number in my passport was wrong). I was expecting serious problems, but the inspector said just go to the train. At the exit, it also didn't work, but after trying a couple of times to scan my passport, the lady gave up. I'm not sure what to make of the strict controls, but there is no follow-up.

The 1st photo is the viw from the room.

The next few days, we plan to slow down and enjoy the beautiful countryside . Let's see if that works.

I nearly forgot to mention that we arrived here 45s late. That's Swiss punctuality for 5 times the distance.Read more