The previous post is Beijing (June 02).
The next post is Enroute to Pingyao (June 04).

Enroute to Datong (June 03) · Jun 10, 09:59 PM

Nick is letting me store my backpack in his room; I checked out after street dumplings and half an hour on the phone to America (cheaper than dirt — Thanks, Skype!). Towards noon I met a Beijing burner for lunch — she took me to a vegetarian buffet on the north side of the city. On the way back I stopped in on the silk market, but was in the wrong mood to appreciate that place. The unceasing, “please come in” and “shirt? tie? for girlfriend?” got to me, and I didn’t have the drive to bargain for stuff I didn’t need. At the hostel I picked up two copies of my third picture DVD from a friendly across-the-street internet bar where I had made my calls this morning. I showered one last time, got my hair cut across the street, and ran into Nick, Simon, and Jen at the free internet terminals. I said goodbye, breaking my membership in the fellowship of T98 from Hong Kong to Beijing.

It was dark now. I pulled cash from a Bank of China near the Hepingmen metro station, and nearly missed my train talking with a Polish multimedia designer on his way to Moscow. Train 4433 did not have air-conditioning — six hot hours on the top bunk to Datong. Tomorrow may be a long day — I want to take another sleeper from Datong to Pingyao. Two days with no shower.

Tired, dirty, and on the move. This is good.

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