Shanghai Train Station

I travel to Shanghai via high-speed train. Here's a look at the train station platform. 

Waiting for the train to come

I went on a short train trip yesterday to a nearby city to visit friends. Trains and train stations here kind of fascinate me. They are comfortable and clean nowadays too. Who would have thought the day would come when even small train stations had Starbucks in them?

My blog post title, "Waiting for the train to come" reminds me of a song Russ Taff sings. I wonder if anyone else remembers that song besides me? It's called The River Unbroken. Here is the YouTube version of the song and here are the lyrics. 

The end of the day

Trains and subways form a massive web in and around Tokyo, creating the most utilized mass transportation system in the city, if not the entire world. Millions of train trips per day move the people of Tokyo to home, work and play.

This evening, while riding the train for about 15 minutes during rush hour, notices kept popping up inside the compartments, above the train doors. In several languages including English, the alert gave the name of a particular station, information that the station was closed in both directions, and the reason why: passenger injury. 

It was explained to me that "passenger injury," specifically, means suicides.

Suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train as it enters the station is a preferred way to end it all for the shamed or depressed in the world's largest city.

It happened three times, at three different train stations, during our 15-minute train ride. For three sets of family and friends, life will never be the same again.

View from my train window

On my train trip right after Christmas, I took photos from my window seat at a speed of 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour). The photos are not the greatest, but the views remind me of the simplicity and beauty of the Chinese countryside.

New Year Holiday

University students line up to buy train tickets for New Year Holiday travel.

The January 1st New Year is technically a one-day holiday in the Middle Kingdom. However, people are getting four consecutive days off for the holiday this year. Everyone has to work one day this weekend, then they work both days next weekend, to make up for the extra consecutive days off.

Almost all their holidays get this same kind of treatment. The consecutive days allow people enough time to travel, alleviating some of the pressure on public transportation at other holidays.

People here never get vacations during the year. People only get off work on holidays, which means everyone is off at the same time, which means holidays are always a horrible travel mess.