Speeding through the night (Chinese bullet train); Chinese train info

Walking around Xi’an, you can see some strange things. I saw someone pickup their dog and put it in a grocery bag and carry it down the street with its head sticking out.  A woman stopped to talk to her, and I really really wish I understood Chinese right then. I saw a cat chained to a moped, and none too happy about it.

The train station process is easy (although there weren’t any English announcements that I noticed) and I did a little shopping while waiting, but the store wouldn’t accept my Discover card that I’ve used elsewhere. Not sure if they just didn’t understand how to use it (Discover has a card you can print it to help, it merchants) out just wanted cash, but I didn’t have that much cash do I left without 2 more shawls that would probably just end up in a drawer with a dozen others.

They have boiled water available at the train station (and in the train) so you can eat your giant bucket of noodles or make tea.
I lucked out and had a window seat in the train. We went as fast as 309km/h per the scrolling signage, that also includes this nugget: “please put your luggage safely.”
I watched out the window a lot during the trip and a couple things stood out. As we were pulling out of Xi’an, it was dusk, but I saw very few lights in on apartment buildings. There were some street lights, but I didn’t see many interior lights, which made the city seem empty. Pretty eerie. Much of the time I saw no lights outside the window at all, and then there were some buildings that had LED shows running on their exteriors. Expanding diamond chevron patterns in rainbow colors, or white lines rippling up and down, for example.

The train was very clean, and a woman mopped the aisle a couple times during our trip. AND, there was a western toilet WITH toilet paper. It was amazing.

In 4 hours and 24 minutes I was back in Beijing, dodging scammy taxi drivers again, hopping in a real cab and going back to the hutong where I was staying.

The driver dropped me off at about 11, said “bye bye” and I was standing by a dimly lit alley. Heading down it, I noticed not one, not two, but 3 guards sitting in chairs in different places near the middle of the long block. I feel safe, but also watched.