The Bullet Train

July 10, 2013

I’m not completely novice when it comes to riding trains, but I’ve never actually ridden one to get from one place to another; The Skunk Train from Willets to Fort Bragg and back again, the Monorail at Disneyland,  The little train at what used to be The Nut Tree in Fairfield, and the steam train in Old Sacramento are all more like entertainment venues.  That China is where I would have my first experience riding a train from one city to another is not something I would have ever been able to predict.  The fact that my train was a bullet train is mind-blowing.  We’re traveling west at roughly 180 to 220 mph through farmland.  It’s been a great way to get a look at the rural landscape.  Here most farms are worked by hand.  While from Beijing, it started out fairly flat, as we approached Xi’an, the mountains became craggy and picturesque.  The train passes through the mountains, along the valleys, and travel on tracks that are elevated above cities that seem to rise up from the ground without warning.  The city at our first stop was especially surprising because it didn’t look as if many people lived there.  Its roads were virtually abandoned; the high-rise buildings were not yet occupied.  Construction workers must be there somewhere.  There is an urbanization effort in China.  Farmers and village dwellers are being moved to urban centers.  I wonder if this construction is one of the new rebalancing centers.

A "Ghost City"

At the Station