Long and tiring day cheered by walking into Devin in the lobby. He is not in a Chinese jail but does have to wait a week for his visa. Not being charged for his inadvertent overstay as charming female official let him off on condition that he 'say beautiful words to me'. Like, sorry. he looks tired but very well. While I have been creeping round a small area of B he has done the Great Wall and the subway and is going to rent a bicycle.
I have train ticket to Harbin Y263 - 26 pund-ish. Ring C and C. All good.
Sitting in the train in open, hard class, sociable sleeper. Sat in waiting room and had peculiar feeling of near hysteria. Once when Son was about 7 days old, I left the flat to walk up the drive and look at a fox eating our chicken dinner (a gift). Only got half way up the drive when I had a tug at my navel pulling me back to the baby. This was sort of like that. A very nervy, end of my tether, gone too far feeling. But what are you gonna do in the middle of Harbin station? Have hysterics? More trouble than it's worth. We carry on sitting impassively and wait for our train.
Was very worried about when to leave waiting room and go for train and wqas interrogating poor station official when angel no.1 intervened in a slight US accent and said go 40 mins before. angel no. 2 was a young girl in the queue with estremely good English who lat me wait with her. Angel n0. 3 was a young man near us at the gate who caught me up on the platform and swapped his lower bunk ticket for my upper berth. he says he gets this train a lot and always tries to help some old man or...the rest he left unsaid. if I want to chat i must find him, he says. In the end, Li Fe and I become friends. He is in his last year in Applied Chemistry (nano-technology no less)and has no girlfriend but a good command of English. I do not ask if he has brothers or sisters because that would, I fear, be very tactless in China. Lights go off and we all settle down. It is very warm and comfortable. My hip hurts as usual but get 7 hours anyway.
