Eric's Beijing Diary

Lying here in my bunk in the sleeper bus, scribbling in my notebook. What a night! Lucy had reserved four berths on the sleeper bus, but it turns out that the bus company had oversold the run. There were only two berths for the four of us. When we got to the bus station, there were a lot of angry people. They were arguing with the management, because they had reserved tickets, and now they were told that their spots had been taken. In a few cases, the management was able to placate people by providing lodging for the night. But the rest of them demanded a place on the bus. The management finally announced that they would take everyone. Claire asked if this arrangement was safe. She was told abruptly that if she was concerned about safety, she should stay home. We headed out to the bus, but not before being warned several times to keep our heads down so the police would not see how overloaded the bus was. Lucy had told me that two of us would have to sit while the other two slept. Lucy refused to take a berth, so I insisted that Claire and Jean take the sleeper berths. When I got on the bus, I realized that there were no seats at all. So sitting meant crouching in the aisle between the sleeper berths. This was a profoundly uncomfortable situation. I spent the next five hours sitting on the edge of one of the berths, leaning over and trying to get some sleep, desperately trying to find a position that would take some of the pressure off my aching back. I almost envied the few hardy souls who decided to brave the cold and sprawled out on blankets in the baggage compartment under the bus. We finally stopped for a bathroom break, and Jean and Claire got up and told Lucy and me to take the berths. It was an incredible relief to stretch out on my bunk and get some sleep. Somehow a sleeper bus doesn't seem so bad after what I went through last night. I think I could almost do this without complaining. And that would be handy, because if you're going to be involved in the countryside of China, you're going to be taking a sleeper bus sooner or later.