One bus and two trains took us to the Hong Kong/China
border. We divided into small groups of
10 to cross the border, because we would run into more problems with crossing
as a large group and it may give away the fact that we are a Christian group. When crossing the actual border we were told
to say we were not with a group and were just crossing as tourists. Once across we waited 4 hours for our next
train. As we waited in a room filled
with hundreds of people we received much attention and staring. A few people tried unsuccessfully to sneak a
picture of us. Some did not even try to
sneak a picture, but walked right up and snapped a shot with their cell
phone.
For dinner we went to a local restaurant. I sat with Lynette, a World Racer with
Chinese parents. She helped us with
Chinese table etiquette. It is okay to
use your fingers, put unwanted bones and fat on the actual table, and to shovel
rice straight from your bowl into your mouth.
It is not okay to pour tea for yourself before you serve your elders. Only a little food should be taken at a time
rather than a heaping serving. All rice
and tea should be finished before leaving the table.
After our eight course meal we dashed back to the train
station and boarded for our 14 hour journey.
The train was made up of seated cars, public sleeper cars, and a
restaurant car. We were in the public sleeper car which had about 10 cubicles
containing 6 beds stacked 3 high.
