From the window of the Zunyi-Guiyang train
October 2011
It takes nearly 3 hours to go from Zunyi to Guiyang, although the distance is 155 km. The number of my train was K843, Zunyi-Guangzhou. In the province of Guizhou there are a lot of tunnels and bridges on all railways. I remember how we entered one of the tunnels, but they did not switch on the light in the train, and the compartment was enveloped by impenetrable darkness. 10 seconds pass, then 20, then a minute, one more. I took out the phone, turned on the screen – at least some light. After that I slowly counted to 240 and then we finally went out of the tunnel.
At the only stop between Zunyi and Guiyang, in the city of Xifeng, a Chinese joined me in my compartment. According to him, his work is to adjust card gaming machines at railroad facilities and therefore he has the right to free travel. Now, he just returns from regular work. With his talks, he distracted me from the scenery outside the window up to the very Guiyang. It is interesting, but during the whole trip, I have never seen any slot machines at all.
