It Takes a Village…..
In November 2011, I was traveling solo on a train across China from Shanghai in the east, to Xian in the northwest, and although they have high-speed trains in China (5km faster than Japan’s Shinkansen, not to be outdone) the only train I could book on that day was one on a regular service, which was something like a 17-hour ride. About three-quarters of the way there, the train broke down for several hours. Unfortunately for me, I don’t speak Chinese.
