Highly married NOW" Na' mor a' more Pub for Jamieson, laddy. Ball and chain now laddy.

Umm, actually Professor I do not regret my well founded decision.Actually you were the one who was ahhhh under the weather.....

Wassat ? You ? You ? (reels and stands alert) ....punk calling me (hiccough) undah the (hiccough) weather ?

What ? Are you nuts ? Suzhou is the place to be. Cigarette holders and walkers with wheels. I get 'hellloed' if I am foolish enought to walk down a dank lane  - but that's actually an invite for a cup 'o' cha and maybe dinner.

Oh, highly married NOW. : stagger.

F* me, 204 km/h on a stretch or two on a 2 month old train. Railway Police assistants with megaphones ensure the citizens line up properly at the stations.  "You there ! White T-shirt ! (Wo ? [me ?] Touching chest quizzically and looking around for another white T-Shirt) Yeah, YOU ! Get in the line or.... so help me...." they bellow.

"Form a neat queue, the train will be here in.... (radio chatter from the walkie talkie) ... in 2 minutes."

I really admire the efficiency, on-time and No-bullshit approach to management  of these new trains.

Exit from the front door. EXIT, mind you, not the extreme sport of getting you and your shit out of the train onto the platform while others struggle to get IN before the departing passengers and their luggage alight. 

Same as lifts here, chaos. I shoulder whack these lift protocol offenders on a regular basis, even sometimes do the full body whack and then "apologise", depending on my mood.

3 minutes a station. Suzhou, I'll give it 5 minutes on the dot. Ex Nanjing, Display board says 11.40 departure, f**k me, sitting in carriage 2 seat 37 and Mrs. Jamieson in 38 - 11.40 beepers sound, doors slowly close and we are rolling. 20,40,60, 160, 200. That's amazing.

Really amazing  and totally excellent, efficient Chinese co-ordination and operation. Guess you didn't know the secrets. J heard rumours about excellence from other foreigners, but scoffed loudly.

 Quickly unscoff when I see this.... just a few carriages down.

Asolutely mind-blowing. Guess there's a flurry for the Olympics and Shanghai Expo in 2010. Actually, the toilet floor was somewhat awash with urine (understandable with the swaying of the train at 200 km/h)... no problem. Even my aim kinda goes off-kilter at times..... at that speed and sway when it goes over some rail points.

Yeah, I know we have this in the West but it was so unexpected, so totally unexpected in China. Four months ago it was "we're getting ready..." Five years ago it would have been a fantasy that'd get you in an asylum.

Do you know how much it cost them to build the catenary system (electric train power) for 2,800 km ? How much to buy these trains ?  How much to pay the slaves shovelling ballast and levering rails  to precision in the terrible humidity and burning sun - to ensure rails were 5 mm or less out of tolerance ?

My heart goes out to the humble men and women who do the hard and sweaty jobs that we quite frankly - often ignore.  We call them s**t jobs, but , there is dignity in work. They deserve spades of Dignity, something that Laowais in China sometimes conveniently overlook.

Just like the senior ladies who trim the hedges at Club Jamieson, cut the grass, and the guy who personally drags the cart around to empty garbage bins into said cart. He doesn't drive an Audi and says that 63 Kuai (USD $7) to go to Nanjing - each, and each way - by train is 'ridiculous, preposterous, outrageous'.

China will change in an instant. One moment you're in a Toronto or Sydney environment clone on uber-luxury trains, staff smiling and wearing bow-ties, vests, suits and offering 'Sirs' in the silence of the train - next moment you're closing your eyes and joining the queue to the heat and gross humidity of Coastal China, 85%.

The "sir" - in English from the crew member as she showed me how to operate the sliding door to the toilet (I tried to push it gently  ....) was - how you say in English ? Absolutely astonishing.

Had a woman with an amputated right hand nudge me at Suzhou train station whilst Mrs. J  and J waited for a Taxi to go home (Hate laowais....) nudge me with the stump. Ahhh, seek Government Assistance. It's available.

China.

A land of huge contrasts. Even though Jamieson attempts to apply the 'insulation' the disparity is right there, in your face.

Yes I am cynical. 4+ years years here "opens one's eyes".

I love China.  Ahh, actually, I do. If I didn't - I would be on the next QANTAS Airbus, back to Australia. Sent packing.

I daresay the Belgians on the train were impressed. The Dutch guy with the big backpack was eager to return to Shanghai to his lady and found the annoying stops ... an impediment to his pleasure !

J.