#2 - Four strangers in a lift

China, June 2011

I'd just visited the coastal city of Qingdao (where Tsingtao beer comes from) and was on my way inland to Jinan. It was a five-hour train journey trapped inside a cramped and overheated carriage. Every inch of space in the carriage was filled with either people or bags. I was lucky enough to get a seat, but as it was a ying zuo (hard seat) carriage, the seats felt like they were originally designed to torture people accused of "subversion of state power". My buttocks would never forgive me.

Sat across from me on the train was a shy-looking girl, about 20-years old. She wore a bright yellow t-shirt and thick rimmed glasses. From the moment she sat down she'd started staring at me intently, a nervous smile hovering on her face. I occasionally met her gaze and smiled back. Every time we made eye contact her eyes lit up and her small nervous smile grew into a huge beaming grin. It was infectious. As much as I resisted, I couldn't hold back the grin from stretching across my face too. Moments later we both spontaneously broke out into laughter. A few heads turned to witness two strangers laughing at each other on train for no apparent reason.

Her name was Meng Jing. She was a student in Jinan, returning to university for the new semester. She didn't speak any English (I suspect she knew a little), but we got by in Chinese. At this point I was quite used to curious people coming up to talk to me in China, but Meng Jing seemed almost star-struck to have met me.

"What will you see in Jinan?" she asked me, eyes still fixed on me at all times.

"I don't know yet," I answered honestly, "I'm not familiar with Jinan. Do you have any suggestions?". 

Meng Jing wrote down the names of some sites I should visit, sat back thoughtfully for a minute, then started typing something on her phone. A moment later she lifted her head to ask me "do you have a hotel yet?". I hadn't. She then smiled to herself and got back to what she was doing.

While Meng Jing busied herself on her phone, the people around us, who'd been largely silent up until that point, began to quiz me on my itinerary. I got out the envelope that I'd scribbled my intended route on.

"You can't go to Qufu!" exclaimed the old lady sat next to me, "You won't be able to travel to your next stop from there. Why don't you go to Tai'An instead?". 

The guy sat next to Meng Jing, who'd been asleep the entire journey, woke from his slumber to point out another flaw in my plan. Then disembodied voices, drifting from behind bags and other people, also began opining about my plan. Very soon I had a robust itinerary laid out for the rest of my trip. The consensus was that it was the most interesting route to Nanjing, although a couple of the voices maintained that the routes they'd suggested were better.

As we approached Jinan, Meng Jing explained what she'd been doing on her phone earlier. "My friend is going to meet you at her campus across town. She can help you find a hotel and will take you sight-seeing tomorrow". I was speechless. This was incredible! I couldn't thank her enough. The guy who'd been sat next to Meng Jing promised to help me get across town, as he lived in the same part of the city. Together we rode the bus to Meng Jing's friend's campus and sure enough, she was there waiting for us when we arrived.

The friend's English name was Sofia. Another girl had also come out, curious to meet the Englishman who can't plan a trip properly. Once introductions had been made, we headed over to the university campus hotel. The guy I'd taken the bus with decided to tag along too, not wishing to miss out on the fun. 

For a university that boasts of its international credentials, curiously the campus hotel in Jinan didn't have a licence to host foreigners. Sometimes hotels are willing to bend the rules a little, but this one couldn't be budged. The receptionist suggested that we try a 4-star hotel just outside the campus instead.

So onwards we marched, across the campus to the aforementioned hotel, just outside the gates. Thankfully this one did accept foreigners. My entourage negotiated the room rate for me and Sofia insisted that we all see the room first before I paid for it.

As we headed up in the lift, the absurdity of the situation suddenly hit me. Apart from the two girls, who knew each other already, we were all strangers. Essentially I was in a lift with three people I'd just met, and who didn't all know each other, heading up to inspect a hotel room together. This was weird. Wonderful, but weird.

The consensus was that the room was okay, so I dumped my bag and we headed out for dinner, which Sofia insisted on paying for. Over dinner we discussed the plan for the next day. I agreed to meet Sofia at 8am for breakfast, then we'd climb Thousand Buddha Mountain together with a couple of her friends. I was blown away by Sofia's kindness towards me.

I returned to my crowd-sourced room that evening with the biggest grin on my face. I sent Meng Jing a text message to thank her for making this all possible, then fell asleep, still smiling.

Me with Sofia (far right) and her two friends on Thousand Buddha Mountain