Sunday we went to church with American ex patriots (a subject for another essay) and there made some friends with a couple from Utah. We went with Kevin and Jen to the Yu Yuan Gardens. The buildings where all in a traditional style (even though they couldn't have been more than twenty years old) and we soon said goodbye to our friends so we could make our night train to Beijing. From our hotel we took a cab to the train station. As we got out two attendants demanded to see our tickets and offered to help us with our bags. They then started to tell us that we were going to miss the train. Excitedly they told us to pay them 100 Yuan! They would help us get there on time and slow down the train. No thanks. We were 40 minutes early and made it to our sleeper fine. I wonder how many times they get foreigners with that.
I had never taken a train with a sleeper before. We shared it with two other men traveling for business. We talked with one quite a bit. His name was Zhou Ying Hui and he lived in Germany for many years before returning to China. He was very friendly and helped the ride go by much faster. I slept great and had a dream that I was a cowboy in Mongolia with a friend from high school. I wish I could remember more of it because I recall it was epic. I woke up in Beijing Monday morning ready to explore the forbidden city.
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