The 176th Episode : China after all
[October, 2007 Nanjing, China]
After I bought a ticket I headed for the ticket gate. So many people here and there. There was a long line before the ticket gate to have obliged me proceed so slowly step by step. When I thought it would be my turn soon, somebody interrupted the queue with a swoosh just in front of me. The guy was standing with a blank face without mind the others at all.
"Hey, keep the order! Others are waiting in the line in order." I shouted but I wondered he understood English!?!? Anyway, he could've recognised I got angry with my gesture and expression. He walked away backwards the queue. I couldn't be too careful around here. I realised I was actually in China. (Sorry for good Chinese people though.)
Although Japanese talk a great deal about the Chinese like "Chinese are...", Japanese could not make queues, either about 30 years ago. They began to be able to do it maybe in the middle of 1980's, as far as I remember. At railway stations, such announcement "wait for trains in 3 lines..." was made but there were still many such people as was waiting without making queues and interrupted to board the trains themselves first.
I passed through the ticket gate and got down to the platform where the train was waiting. The train looked exactly like the Japanese Shinkansen, so I felt as if I were in Japan. It was because developed by the Japanese technical support. However they applied for the patent as their own technology, that's unbelievable.
The seat was full. In spite of the situation many people had big baggages carried into the train. The seat was very cramped and their voice was too loud. China, after all. They have no word of "mannerisms" in China? A couple of hours later, I managed to reach Nanjing being frustrated.
I was given a drive through the city. Cars driving without regard to lanes, horns blaring here and there noisily. It was quite different when I visited this country 25 years ago first time, although it was rural a place.
Our car was on the bridge over the world 3rd longest river, Yangtze River. The length of the bridge seemed more than 1.3 miles. Due to the rain it was foggy over the river and the other side of the river. Large boats pass on the big river, therefore the girder was set at rather high place. Everything, for good or bad, is on a huge scale.
It's China after all.
