4th July 1992 Day 350

The Diary
With Wilbert's help I managed to get some breakfast in the dining car. I was the only western face, surrounded by hordes of slobbering Chinese smoking like chimneys & making as much mess as possible. Then we all set about the task of wasting the day. We chatted, looked out the windows, read, slept, walked up the train to look at the hard class and I even tried some Cantonese with Wilbert as the teacher.

I managed to get my evening meal in the dining car without Wilbert's help but as usual I was the only westerner in there. I picked out my meal from a menu totally in Chinese. I worked out in Guangzhou which symbols meant chicken and which meant beef. I picked a dish that had beef in it and it turned out to be OK. The two Chinese men I was sat with took pity on my efforts with the chopsticks and ordered me a spoon. I'm just getting the hang of square chopsticks and they give me round ones which have proved even more difficult to control. 

China Railway Map

Later on I played Scrabble with Arthur & Jenny - how civilised - and kept up my winning streak. And by that time the day had flown by & it was time for bed again.



2012
I felt quite embarrassed that my chopstick skills were so bad that they ordered me a spoon. Fortunately I've improved in the last 20 years. 

Current Scrabble top score 535.


Guangzhou to Beijing - about 2,200km




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