Day 7: June 16, 1997

STU 師大

Shaanxi Xian Yang 505 Group Comapny 陜西咸陽505集團公司(10:15 a.m.)

Xian Yang Museum 咸陽博物館 (11:45 a.m.)

Xi'an 西安 (2:15 p.m.)

STU 師大 (3:30 p.m.)

Xi'an railway station 西安火車站 (9 p.m.)

Train number 622 (To Yanan) 第622次列車(往延安)

We had our breakfast (congee, boiled eggs, buns, bread etc.). Then, we travelled for more than 2 hours and went to Xian Yang 咸陽, the capital of Qin Dynasty. On that day, Mr. Tung was not with us because he went for the train tickets and the arrangements in Yanan for us, but, Mr. Wong of STU external affairs office were with us. Joe and I had used up our films, so we bought some rolls of films from Mr. Cheung, who had got spare ones.

10:15 a.m. Shaanxi Xian Yang 505 Group Comapny 陜西咸陽505集團公司

Xian Yang was like a town, and the urban area was not large. The 505 Group Comapny was a big enterprise in China, producing health products. The company building was situated in an area with many ordinary buildings, since there was no significant commercial area there.

We were led to a room which exhibited herbal medicines and animal samples, and we had not heard many of them. Then, we entered a conference room, and watched videos. The videos were about the company, also, many consumers appeared to say they were healed by their products. Their products included medicine bags 神功元氣袋 which can be tied round the body, knee cushions 護膝, tea leaves and pills. They were made of Chinese medicine, and could cure many illnesses. The company published a thick book which included more than a thousand letters written by their customers which praised the effectiveness of their products. The book was think and the papers were thin, and words were very small. What a powerful promotion tool.

After that, we had a chance to buy their products. After hearing the usage of their products, many of us were looking forward to buy. Girls bought tea leaves which helped to keep them slim, and we also bought pills and other products. I bought nothing and sat aside. While we left, each of us carried their paper bags. They gave us some books as souvenirs.

11:45 a.m. Xian Yang Museum 咸陽博物館

Beside one of ordinary streets, we came to Xian Yang Museum. It was not big, but contained many things. There were crafts, steeles, and poetry figures of the Han Dynasty which were very nice and lined-up neatly.

The garden in Xian Yang Museum 咸陽博物館花園

The buildings of the museum was like those in the Forest of Steeles. We did not spend much time in it, and we were hungry.

2:30 p.m. Xi'an 西安

We experienced a traffic jam on our way back to Xi'an, and the journey was long. Finally, we came to a restaurant beside the junction of Er Huan Road 二環路 (a new wide road) and Chang An Road 長安路. It was quite new. We ate on the second floor, and the dishes were good. Mr. Cheung urged us to eat a dish of meat wish contained much fat, and most of us were not willing to eat. I ate one or two pieces, and Joe played a little trick and made Mr. Cheung believe he had eaten it (covering the meat with rice).

The junction of Er Huan Road and Chang An Road,
the restaurant was probably at the top left hand corner
of the photo
After that, we were back to STU and had a rest, also, we had to start packing our belongings. We went to the "Sixth Lecture Building 教六樓" again (we came to that building to attend a lecture on the second day). This time we talked with STU students. I mainly talked with a girl from Hu Nan 湖南 Province, she was very talkative. We talked about the situation of Xi'an and Hong Kong, as well as our study. I was not so talkative at that time, partly because I was quite tired. In most of the time, she took the lead to ask me questions and talk. The "talking session" went from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., I couldn't believe I had talked for so long.

We had some spare time before the dinner, and we bathed and packed our luggage. As we would returned to STU after two days, we need not bring away all of our luggage. We left our suitcases and souvenirs there, and only brought hand carries to Yanan. For me, a brought a suitcase and a sack 背囊 to Xi'an, and the sack was used for carrying food (3 cup noodles, some packs of biscuits, candy, Chinese herbal drink powder). I left the suitcase in STU, and brought my sack and a paper bag of 505 Comapany to Yanan. I brought clothes, some food and other necessities such as my shaver and torch. Then, we had our dinner, and maybe it was our last meal in Xi'an, the dishes were better than before, and suited our taste. We were in our coach at 8:20 p.m..

9 p.m. Xi'an railway station 西安火車站

We rode across Xi'an city and came to the railway station which was in the north of Xi'an city. It was a big station with a large square in front. I looked around, and saw the beautiful city wall since there were light bulbs on the edges of the walls. Also, there were blinking advertisement boards. We first waited in the car park, and then entered the station building, into the waiting room. Many people were walking around, and there were some foreigners carrying large sacks. Xi'an was a transportation centre in northwest China. You can go westwards to Lan Zhou 蘭州 and Urumqi 烏魯木齊, go eastwards to Zheng Zhou 鄭州 (a station of Beijing-Hong Kong railway), go southwards to Han Zhong 漢中 and Cheng Du 成都, or, like us, you can go northwards to Yanan 延安. Besides 14 of us (HKU students), Mr. Cheung was with us throughout the trip, also, Mr. Tung of STU accompanied us to Yanan too. We chatted in the waiting room until 10 p.m., when we were led to a platform and boarded a train.

The type of compartment 卡 we boarded was called "soft bed 軟臥". There were about 6 rooms in a compartment, each contained two double-decker beds (so, each room could accomodate 4 people). In each room, there was a door, so the rooms could be isolated from other people in the train, and it was the most expensive ticket in that train. In each room, there was a small table beside the window, and had hot water pots. In the corridor, there were seats beside windows, and they fold up automatically when a person left the seat as to save space in the corridor.

There were other types of tickets. For "Hard bed 硬臥", there were 3-decker beds in a compartment, and there were no rooms separating the beds from the corridor, so it was more congested. Also, there were "Soft seat", and people can only sit in their seats.

I was in a same room with Joe, Kelvin and Sam. The train departed at 10:20 p.m.. After the departure, Joe, Sam and Kelvin went to other rooms and talked with other trip-mates, and we ate our biscuits and cup noodles. I'd rather like watching views through the windows. I saw lights of Xi'an and distant fields. I never rode such a long distant train, and I was excited. While the train was moving, the shake and the rhythm was enjoyable. There was a toilet at the end of the compartment.

Inside my room 車廂內
I read some novels written by a Japanese writer called 西村京太郎, and his novels were about murders in railways. Now, I experienced the feeling of being in a train. I sat in the corridor, that was the only way to feel the train. I met another man in the corridor who was sitting near me. We talked. He was selling western medicine, and in a month, he had to make 2 or 3 journeys to Xi'an to buy medicine and go back to Yanan to sell. He had been doing this for 6 years. I also told him I was a student in an interflow trip etc.. He asked me about the public order, living cost and language (Mandarin, English or Cantonese) in Hong Kong, and I asked him about the situation of business in China. After the train left Pu Cheng 蒲城 station, he returned to his "soft seat" compartment. He told me to shut the window, otherwise I could catch a cold. I said goodbye to him. In fact, I like to open the window to feel the air outside and feel the speed.

Not very long later, officers in the train closed all the windows in the corridor. They said we were going into tunnels, and coal ashes would come in if we didn't shut the windows. I went back to our room, and other roomates were still chatting, so I went to sleep. The rhythm of the train and the movement was comfortable, and I had no troubles getting to sleep.

Continue to Day 8 !

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