Silk Road: Riding the Train to Turpan

Train staff checking to see if the platform is clear before moving on

Our visit through Gansu province was over and now it was time to board the train to Turpan in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The Dunhuang train station looked spanking new -- two years old we were told -- and right at the entrance we had to deal with security checks, showing our passports and putting our luggage through X-ray machines before even getting into the building.

Staff at the entrance have riot helmets and gear ready...

We arrived early so we had time to hit the loo (pretty clean) before heading to our train. Originally our Gansu-based tour guide was not going to join us -- we were going to go on our own and then meet our Xinjiang guide in Turpan.

However, we felt it was best he help us out just in case and we're so lucky he did.

Our second-class train tickets were bought months in advance; in that time period, some people had renewed passports so their passport number was different from the one printed on their ticket.

At least one person had a lot of hassle because of this and in the end had to refund her ticket and buy another one, which meant she could not sit with us. Our guide was on hand to help her out with this.

A high speed train ready to go (not ours)

If that wasn't all, there was the issue of luggage. One would think traveling by train is straight forward, but in China it's not. We easily took the escalator up to go across to the platform on the other side, but when we wanted to go down, there was no escalator, only stairs and a very steep slope to drag suitcases on the far right.

Needless to say it was a complete disaster -- people's suitcases rolled (or slid) faster than their owners and it created such mess that it was just easier, but more muscle work to carry suitcases down the stairs.

That resulted in our tour guide having to go up and down to help many of us bring our suitcases down several flights of stairs which was quite stressful given the sheer number of people also doing the same thing, and having to lift heavy loads.

Inside our train which is quite new

Finally that was sorted and gathering ourselves together we boarded the train, again our tour guide helping put many of the suitcases in the racks above. Some of us sat three to a seat, so six of us faced each other on the right, while on the left there were two seats.

The train started up quickly and we thought the staff would check tickets but they never did, and because there were many free seats some sat in other places. And then after one or two stops more people got on so we had to sit in our designated seats. 

By the way the food selection is quite dire -- there's instant noodles, drinks and chips -- including cucumber flavour. My uncle got soy bean drink with red bean, but it was the powder version which needed hot water and it turned out lumpy. One bright spot was having Haagen Daz ice cream!

One guy sitting near us had a dumbfounded look on his face watching us the whole time. He wore a black leather cap, black vest, T-shirt, glasses and boots. Sitting next to him was a woman on our tour who reported he had terrible body odour!

Finally he got off at one stop, but another man randomly sat next to her and he too stared at us. He didn't seem to belong in that seat, but what can you say? He looked a bit shifty, but that's because he felt uneasy being in a second-class cabin when perhaps he should have sat elsewhere.

Four hours later we finally arrived in Turpan, in time for dinner -- but wait we still had to deal with getting our luggage off the train and down the stairs again...

So that was our experience riding the train. One would expect it to be more convenient than the plane, but having to carry our suitcases up and down was too much!

A Horrific Escalator Ride

Do you dare to take an escalator in China these days?

It was shocking to read last week about a woman in Jingzhou, Hubei province who died after being swallowed up by an escalator in a shopping mall. It turns out the metal panel was loose and so the 30-year-old mother fell in, but she was able to push her two-year-old son to safety.

Two female employees caught on video got on the escalator before Xiang Liujian and they felt the panel was loose and managed to escape. They were discussing the problem at the top of the escalator, but did nothing to warn Xiang about the metal plate, watching her fall in.

There are reports the video footage is gruesome, and it took workers several hours to recover her body, or parts of it...

And now a cleaner in a Shanghai mall has had part of his leg amputated after it got caught in an escalator yesterday.

Xiang falls into the escalator as she pushes her son to safety

The 35-year-old was cleaning the escalator when his leg got stuck in the section where the stairs meet the metal plate. Although the escalator stopped immediately, his calf was so severely injured that doctors had no choice but to amputate the leg.

An investigation is underway.

In the case of Xiang, investigators have found the three floor plates were poorly designed, and so they got loose and tilted easily. They also found the size of the plates did not match the original designs and were loosely fitted.

The manufacturer, Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company, was accused of poor quality control and officials have ordered all of its machines that are used across the province to stop service and have safety checks carried out.

The mall was also found not to have taken proper emergency measures after its staff discovered the escalator was faulty.

Escalators are common place in Chinese cities -- now everyone must be worried about getting on and off one. Are they all safe? Is Suzhou Shenlong Elevator Company the only firm in the whole of China that may have cut corners?

This brings back memories of the scandal of melamine-laced powder milk in 2008, where at least six babies died and tens of thousands of babies and toddlers had serious health problems.

Adding melamine to the thin milk helped boost the protein levels of the powdered milk on paper, but what did it do in the end? Why are people still chasing profits instead of aiming for the goal of quality products?

The horrific elevator death drags China back to the stereotypical belief that things made in the Middle Kingdom are shoddily made, without caring for people's safety and well-being.

Will we see a full transparent investigation? Will the culprits be punished? It's not just those who installed the escalator, but also the company's executives who allowed shoddy workmanship to go ahead, and the mall's management for not having emergency plans in place for escalators malfunctioning.

In the meantime what about the husband and son? What kind of legal recourse will they have?

Time will tell if justice will be served.