The
high-speed ride on the bullet train from Beijing to Xi’an (Shee-aan) was
excellent. Very modern train cars, very comfortable and quietly travelling at a
high rate of speed.
The tracks pass through agricultural landscapes interspersed with 10MM person cities.
Eiffel Tower Antenna Shijiazhaung
So many massive buildings, presumably warehousing people. There was even an Antenna tower on a building roof along the way. It was a ringer for the Eiffel tower, located at Shijiazhaung an 11MM person city. Gustave would be proud.
We arrived in Xian in a little over 4
hours, a magical 1200 km train ride at, yup, near average of 300kmh.
We
were met at the train station by our Xi’an guide Ellen. It was pouring rain but by the time we got to our hotel the rain had
stopped. Like home, wait a few minutes and the weather changes.
Construction cranes a common sight
Ellen set us up
at our new hotel avoiding any language confusion The centrally located Novotel
Bell Tower Xian offers fine accommodation and an excellent breakfast buffet. No
onsite restaurant but many are close by. As breakfast was large; we opted for a combo
late lunch early dinner.
Thick noodles are a specialty in Xi’an. We found a
noodle shop a 5-minute walk from the hotel that had good reviews. The menu was like the simple “My
Cousin Vinny” diner menu (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner): Choice of big bowl, small bowl, extra meat, extra vegetables,
extra noodles. We chose small bowls no extras. After the fair size “small bowls" were delivered to our table one of the ladies working there came over to our
table, and using chopsticks she expertly mixed the meat, vegetables and sauce all together. Tea
was also provided. Very helpful for us rookies. It was very delicious.
After
that we walked back stopping to pick up some beer at a convenience store to
take back to the hotel. The famous China brew, Tsing Tao was priced at 4.5¥ /500ml bottle, as were other similar beers and a nasty 12% alcohol one (that one was a struggle). At the hotels and restaurants, the beer markup was steeper, typically 20-25¥/each. The Novotel is very well-equipped accommodation, we took advantage of the free modern laundry facilities, a nice add to get a weeks’ worth of clothes ready again. After an early morning and the train journey, we were beat and called it an early night.
Day
2 - Terracotta Warriors
This
morning we were picked up at 8 and drove for about an hour east to visit
the Terracotta warriors. They are said by their promoters to be known as the ‘eighth
wonder of the world’. Of course, there are a number of other places and people
including Jerry Springer, King Kong, the Rogers Centre among dozens of others
that also claim this title.
Qin Shi Haung Terracotta Army Museum
It’s a massive tourist attraction, in the top three in China. The story of them is incredible. I will try and be brief. What is known as the Qin Dynasty was short lived (less than 50 years), but it laid the groundwork for the future dynasties.
Qin Shi Huang was the first Emperor of China (he personally created the title). He unified China in approximately 250BC and created the Qin Dynasty. He was quite the leader and warrior, commanding a 500,000 strong army! Just speculating, but what do you do with a massive army and no wars to fight? Keep them and many others busy or they will with get restless.
What you ask might keep them occupied for 30-40 years? The Terracotta Warriors near Xi’an are an amazing example of leadership focusing people on tasks to get them working together and keeping them busy. A project initiated over two millennia ago, went on for over 35 years, brought many people together with a single purported purpose; to create life size warriors and weapons to protect the Emperor in the afterlife 🙄.
This project lasted some 35+ years, a testament to gullibility of most of us. An enormous project, it required artisan and engineering skills be developed to construct the life size clay army in such detail that no two looked the same. Quin Shi Huang died in about 208 BC, without him his dynasty collapsed. The clay army was buried under the sands of time. (and was extensively looted, apparently unable or unwilling to protect the deceased Emperor).
The ancient make work project was “discovered” by farmers drilling a well in 1974, the project now breathed new life. Over 2 millennia later it is again a major economic engine for Xi’an and China. This incarnation of the project has been rolling on now for over 50 years. The ongoing process of excavating and restoring the warriors (most broken into many pieces) will keep the new generations of workers and artists busy for many more years. The scale of the attraction is enormous, the main pit is about 230m long, 60m wide and 5m deep. The reassembly process painstakingly plods on.
There are only a few of warriors that were found intact, the rest were and are a massive jigsaw puzzle for archeology students to play with. Judging from the size of the crowds of visitors, and ongoing new exploration, it appears that this project can continue indefinitely. Well at least until the CPC dynasty falls and the sands of time once again reclaim the site.
A truly amazing exhibit, a few more years of digging and gluing and it might get into the top Seven World Wonders. I have much admiration for how these projects are conceived and executed by both ancient and current governments. These leaders are masters at creating purpose for humans. We could use a project or two like this in “The West”. Well at least could think up projects that do not involve military action. Might give meaning to the lives of the many lost souls. It was enjoyable seeing that there may still be hope for mankind, just need leadership.
As an aside, while we were circling the Pit above the warriors, I asked our guide why there were “no crossing” signs at the warrior pit. Seemed unnecessarily obvious.
Apparently not; she answered that the signage was installed because a German exchange student entered the pit some 20 years ago in costume… she showed us a WeChat video similar to this one on YouTube! 😂
Terracotta Warrior land is a busy place and we got there early. We had to jostle with many other anxious visitors near the exhibits. In particular to see the very few completely preserved warriors.
Souvenir
Terracotta
Warrior land is a busy place and we got there early. We had to jostle with many
other anxious visitors near the exhibits.
We visited three buildings, two were Pits with
Warriors and equipment, one a museum with many artifacts. Oh, and of course
there was gift shop at the end where we enjoyed extensive retail therapy. As noted by Goodman/Prine more than a half century ago, it takes years to get those souvenirs... All in, about
3 hours', time very well wasted.
The
threatening rain became a warm sunny day. We reunited with our driver and headed
back to Xi’an, very much enjoying the iced coffee and snacks that he kindly
provided for us.
Wild Goose Pagoda
Back
in Xi’an, we stopped at the Wild Goose Pagoda for a short visit. A skyscraper monastery
in its time, 64m in height (7 stories) and was originally constructed some 1300
years ago. The site is home to much Buddhist
paraphernalia as well as some 300 monks still reside there.
A few folks were also looking for selfies.
Back
at the hotel, we caught our breath, had a short rest before heading out again on the
hunt for another local delicacy.
Today
Xi’an is a clean beautiful city, lots of trees, flowers and park areas. It, like all China cities, is very safe. No fear being on streets at night. Rule of law is an actual thing here. Air quality is moderate ranging from 25-80 on the AQI scale. This is a major
upgrade from how a friend described what he observed there in 1987. “Xi'an
was extremely polluted and my wife had a horrible lung infection (could not see
a city block for the black coal dust)”. It seems things can and do get better.
Chinese Hamburger
We
did indeed find that delicacy. No not Donkey this time, instead it is Roujiamoa, commonly called a Chinese Hamburger,
and no it was not like a McDonalds product. The burger is made from slow cooked spiced
mystery meat (hmmm maybe it could be Donkey?), stuffed into a flatbread called Baijimo.
More
like a Donair than a burger, it was nevertheless very tasty as was the Tsing
Tao. From there we tried to find the ‘Drum Tower’ but alas, google maps did not
lead us to the correct location, should have used AMAP.
Time Traveler
Giving
up on the Drum Tower, we returned to the awesome Bell Tower area. Over 650
years old, the Bell Tower is another amazing structure, but no longer a teller
of time. The tower now resides in the centre of a very busy roundabout after the
main wood tower was moved about one thousand metre’s nearly 450 years ago!
Bell Tower
The wood structure stands about 36m above the intersection on a 9m brick base. Around the Bell Tower we observed more ladies in period costume. Some call them “Time Traveler’s”, a nod to the ladies dressing up in early dynastic costumes and participating in photo shoots. The streets surrounding the Bell Tower were well equipped with sales folk selling a complete transformation into the past, young ladies pay a fee of 300¥ to 600¥ depending on extent of the “past” experience.
Day 3 Xi’an Museum and City Wall
Today was a relatively easy, restful day
after the excitement of yesterday’s warriors. A leisurely start at 9am and short
drive to the Xi’an Museum. Very impressive displays of artifacts from the
various dynasties that had controlled Xi’an over time and that the British did
not loot and place in the “British Museum”.A busy day at the museum as there were quite a few school groups.
This was not a problem as everyone was orderly and polite moving through the exhibits. Some of the artifacts dated back many 1000’s of years yet are in fine condition.
We saw very early money, tools, and sculptures all presented in
as interesting a manner as possible for stuff like this.
The grounds of the
museum were beautiful with many trees, bamboo and a pond with many goldfish. We
spent a few hours there and visited all the display rooms except for the Virtual
Reality room… I have enough difficulty with actual reality.
Xi'an City Wall
After the museum we went for a short visit
to the Xi’an City Wall which is a 14 km rectangle with 4 main gates that in the
old days could be closed to keep out invaders.
We walked for a little way the
top of the wall, spent about a half an hour among the souvenir vendors and time
travelers. Very well reconstructed and maintained structure. We decided against
the 14km rental bicycle adventure that one can enjoy on the wall.
From the City Wall, we drove to Xi’an’s “Muslim
Quarter” which are streets with markets selling mostly food. Apparently, it
still is a Muslim enclave within a largely Han City.
We sampled a few items.
The fried squid was OK but did not look the same as the marquee versions which were likely lacquered.
The delicious
looking nuts that appeared to be loose were actually candied and found a bin awhile
later.
Still was only early afternoon, we were weary of the chaos and headed
back to the hotel. Supposedly the Muslim Quarter is much busier in the evening, must be insane. We picked up a
few food items to take with us on the train tomorrow. Essential as we will be out
the hotel door at 6AM and sadly will miss the massive buffet breakfast at the
hotel.
Of course, there were cats and dogs to see and also a small garbage truck, fascinating how specialized vehicles are developed to service difficult to access areas.
For our Xi’an “last supper”, we opted for
Hot Pot again. After aimlessly wandering about the food floor of a shopping plaza
next to the Bell Tower, we were unable to locate the restaurant Google Maps
said was located there. Possibly because It was actually a couple miles away.
Horrifyingly
we had to ask for help to find an alternate. Third time with Google Translate was
a charm and we found a Hot Pot restaurant and did enjoy a fine Hot Pot dinner.
After dinner, it was late enough / dark
enough to head to the roof of the shopping plaza and see the Bell Tower in all
its brilliantly lit evening glory. Spectacular indeed.
An early morning awaited
us.
Day 4 Onward to "The Roof of the World"
An early morning, our bags have somehow
become larger? We manage to stuff 15kgs of crap into a 10Kg bag. We meet Ellen
and the driver at 6AM and head to the train station. This Xi’an train station
is also a massive structure.
Could land a plane there. Not much open early, not
many coffee shops, but eventually Starbucks does open and Cappuccinos are acquired.
Soon we are aboard the train, not a high-speed bullet version, rather a modest
160kmh speed.
Xi'an to Xining
Onward to Xining, the Tibet Plateau and Lhasa., an almost 3000km journey taking some 31 hours.
We arrived in Beijing PEK airport at 2:00pm, a
3-hour flight from Hong Kong. A fast train moves passengers quickly from gates
to the terminal. Immigration and Customs dealt with quickly and efficiently. Our organized tour starts at Beijing airport where we were met by guide April, holding a sign with our names. The tour, organized by Lycoris with Tibet Vista/Travel, it is a 19-day adventure, tour includes guide, car and driver, hotel rooms and breakfast. We are on our own for other meals.
Arrival at PEK
The Beijing (PEK) airport is a massive modern
structure; western airports could learn a few things. Have to say the civil engineering and architecture seen so far, here and in Hong Kong, are amazing. April, and driver took us to
the Howard Johnson Paragon in the downtown. April handheld us to the desk and
made sure we were checked in, good process. A nice room, even above high-end
western standards, a bidet seat was on the toilet, and as we later found, are provided in
most China accommodation.
Nice Room!
The WIFI did not seem to work, front desk told
me it does work fine but western Apps are blocked. Need a VPN to access them.
WeChat (China WhatsApp) does function and we used that for contact with travel
agent and family. Found that our Freedom phone service did allow all western
Apps to work, apparently the server they use is in Toronto and bypasses the
State required censorship.
The mobile service was excellent; China has cell
towers everywhere that provide high speed service. At $30/5GB or $50/10GB, we did
not bother with a VPN.
After a long day of travel, we were too lazy
to go out for dinner, we dined in at the very nicely appointed dining area in
the hotel. We enjoyed Peking Duck (they did call it that in this establishment, saw others later calling it Beijing Duck, some colonial vestiges still exist). The Duck was awesome, carved by the table, we enjoyed it with delicious fried rice.
There were small cubes of duck on bread topped with caviar nicely presented on a fine tray, outstanding! We had ordered another dish, but they wisely did not bring it out as an entire duck is a lot of duck. We soldiered on with and eventually the duck was consumed. This delicious fare cost was about ¥280($60cad) about same as a basic breakfast for two in Calgary.
Day
2: May 19 Tours in downtown Beijing
This
morning after an excellent breakfast buffet our next guide Angela met us at 8:00
at our hotel.
Paragon Breakfast Buffet
She will guide us for our remaining time in Beijing.
First on the
agenda was a visit to Tian’anmen square. A very busy place, a reconnaissance
drive by revealed there was at least an hour and a half long lineup on entry.
Monument to Peoples Heros: Ming Dynasty Gate: Mao Mausoleum
We
opted not to join that Tian’anmen Square fun, instead a drive by viewing from the car window was
deemed sufficient. A few obligatory “we have been there photos” as seen above and we were
onto the next one.
The Forbidden city was next on the agenda; it is simply
amazing. Our guide Angela was very knowledgeable, and we had many interesting
conversations.
The Forbidden City, located on 180 acres, was China’s Imperial
Palace during the Ming and Qing(pronounced Ching) Dynasties. For almost 500
years (1420 to 1912) China was ruled from here.
Fine Jade items
This is the largest Palace on the
planet, 3 times the size of the Louvre. Took 14 years to construct by over 1
million workers including 100,000 craftsmen/artisans. It is said to have 9999
and ½ rooms, one half a room less than Gods Palace in Heaven was reported to
have. Apparently, the rulers did not want to offend God by having equal or
more rooms. Clearly, they felt themselves to be as near to Gods as could
possibly be. Hardly any ego. Beautiful, well-maintained buildings, priceless
furniture and appointments. The Chinese are very proud of their dynastic past.
The Imperial Palace was abandoned with the fall of the Qing
dynasty. The dynasty collapse occurred directly from imperialistic colonial
actions by Britian with the 1st Opium war from 1839-42, where China was offended
that the British were trafficking Opium from Afghanistan into their county and
destroying the fabric of their society.
Queen Victoria a young Woman about to start the humiliation of China
This resulted in Britain, under recently crowned Queen
Victoria, utilizing Gunboat diplomacy to get their way. The war ended in China ceding Hong Kong
and the opening of trade at Shanghai and other ports as well as punishing
reparations.
This was the beginning of 150 years of humiliation of China by “the west”. At
the time the revenue from the China opium trade was a major source of revenue
for Britian. No doubt funded the Industrial Revolution.
There is rule of law and folks to enforce
As well, Queen Victoria is said to have regularly enjoyed opium mixed with alcohol. (known as Laudanum, still generically sold by prescriptions as opium tincture, 10% opium! can still fly like a Queen) Of course she required this substance for “personal relief” and stimulation. With all the hard work of ordering brutal wars, one no doubt needed relief. Apparently, she also enjoyed cocaine, cannabis
and chloroform as “medicine”, no wonder she lived so long.
In 1856, the second opium war was instigated by Britian and France
to further expand western trade into China and to legalize opium. This
concluded in 1860 with expanded trade granted, foreign presence in Beijing and further
reparations. The Qing Dynasty became a puppet of Britan, essentially colonizing
the country.
Forbidden City moat
Queen Victoria near end of Reign Still subjugating China
In 1898 the Boxer Rebellion (named for the Northern China martial
arts experts that initiated the uprising) again tried to remove foreign
influence; nope didn’t happen, 7 European nations and Japan prevailed and
subjugated China again to continue to rob and pillage the country.
Dynasty Costume Dress
Queen
Victoria (or her bankster handlers?) did not give up cash cows easily. Not until Mao pushed the western
backed “nationalist” government of Chaing Kai Shek into the sea and onto Tiawan
did China regain real self-government. It took until 1997 to regain Hong Kong
from the British and 1999 for Macau from Portugal. Thus the 150 years of
humiliation by “the west” ended as the rise of China moved forward.
At Forbidden City we first caught a glimpse of ladies dressed in period costume, more later.
We
followed up the Forbidden City with a visit to the Temple of Heaven, part of which
is a huge outdoor park where citizens participate in fitness and social
activities. This beautiful area occupies over a square mile(685 acres) in downtown
Beijing. Many trees and green spaces, as well as amazing buildings.
The Temple
was used in the Qing Dynasty as a place of prayer to heaven for good harvests.
It suffered vandalism during the “Cultural Revolution” with the main alter being
destroyed. Today it is a highly regarded and well-maintained world heritage
site. The Cultural Revolution was another
disastrous policy of Mao, no doubt to maintain his firm grip on power, not as bad a death toll as the Great Leap but still a few million perished as many cultural and religious buildings and icons were destroyed.
Dynasty Costumed Ladies
The Cultural Revolution inflicted much hardship from 1966 to 1978. The chaos finally ended with Mao's death. Eventually Deng Xiaoping gained power and stopped the madness and started the rise of China. At the Temple of Heavan, we again saw many examples of young ladies dressing in dynastic period costumes and posing for photo shoots.
These
extensive tours complete we were in need of sustenance (Angela for sure, as did not
have the luxury of the extensive buffet breakfast). Someone also wanted a beer.
We found a place for lunch that my friend Jackie would have described as a
“Hole in the Wall” . We shared a tasty noodle soup and a beer. (Angela enjoyed a
meal to herself).
The afternoon plan was to attend a Chinese acrobatic show at 2:30, we still had some time to
kill so we went to a tea shop near the theater. There we were treated to a
demonstration (sales pitch, possibly a commission-based event?) on how to
properly drink tea, the correct hardware and of course various types of tea. Even had a Cricket pet inn a cage!
This
was very entertaining- the lady was a true salesperson. We did purchase
Pet Cricket
a tin of tea and some hardware. She also suggested how to hold a teacup and what the
proper position of the pinky finger is. I believe she said it should be pointed
away for ladies and not for men. Who knows? The internet says it is rude to
point the pinky like Shirley Temple does, it also notes that it may have been a way
for ladies to indicate interest in a male or to signal that for at least, for French
ladies, that they had syphilis. The latter seems very unlikely as the facial
scars would give that it away and who would advertise that?…
After the fascinating tea adventure, it was time for the acrobatic show. Very difficult to describe this event, a fast-paced show of acrobatics, all amazing and some pretty campy. As entertaining as any Vegas show could be.(many of the Cirque de Soleil performers come from China).
Can another body be piled on the mass of contorting humanity? Can another chair be added to the tottering pile? How many ladies can hold onto a bar with their mouth?
Can that lady riding a bicycle load another body on her shoulders? Yes Indeed!
Can another motorcycle enter the spherical cage? Is
1, 2 or 4 not enough?
Exhausting to watch, absolutely an hour of pure entertainment! Spent,
our driver brought us back to our hotel.
Beijing
is a city of over 21MM people, massive road network, with at least 4 ring roads .
The traffic is pretty busy; motorbikes, bicycles and cars co-existing, mostly
harmoniously. The motorcycles/scooters are primarily electric as are many of
the automobiles and buses. Their noiselessness, particularly scooters on
sidewalks, can be unnerving. They are the world leader in uptake on electric
vehicles as well as their manufacture. Very smart for a country with limited
oil reserves who imports most of their needs. Not quite as much a driving free
for all as India, but still less angry drivers than in North America, didn’t
hear many horns honked in anger. The city is very clean and manicured. The medians
of many roads are full of lovely rose bushes, a beautiful city.
After a rest we ventured out on the
streets of downtown Beijing. A very safe city, no issue walking
around in downtown after dark. Chinese cities are some of the safest on the
planet.
And Cats!
There is a significant police presence and people respect the rule of
law. (almost like canada in the 1950’s/60’s). There are also no homeless, everybody seems to have a role. Maybe because there is little or no drug problem? Trafficking is dealt with severely.
A few blocks walk in the evening
took us to section of an ancient city wall in a nearby green space area, a
pleasant outing amid much traffic on the adjacent roads. Felt very safe.
Evening Walk in downtown Beijing
Hot Pot Delight
Angela had recommended
a Hot Pot restaurant that was between our hotel and the wall. We amazingly
located it and enjoyed an excellent Hot Pot dinner. Beef, fish and vegetables
that we cooked ourselves at the table. Well, we did require a tutorial for the
cooking, the server used Google Translate to guide us through the process, how
long to cook each item, very first world.
Day 3: May 20 The Great Wall and more!
Today
was our visit to the Great Wall. Another experience that we hadn’t thought that
we would ever have. After a another over the top buffet breakfast at the hotel
we were picked up just after 8 for our trip to visit the Mutianyu section of the
Great Wall.
This is one of several sections open to foreigners. About a 75km
drive to the site from our hotel, took about 1.5 hours.
The Great Wall of China is a massive structure built over more than 2 millennia by multiple dynasties. Supposedly a physical barrier to keep the “Mongol Hoards” from pillaging the more sophisticated Chinese. Nearly 22,000 Kms in length (a little over ½ way around the globe at the equator). Possibly this was merely an excellent make work project that kept on giving for centuries to keep the peasants busy and not thinking about changing government.
Not a continuous wall, rather many sections that are parallel and some are isolated. The most recent segments were built by the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1644 when the Ming dynasty fell and Qing was initiated. Our visit to the Mutianyu section is to a rebuilt segment from this era, a little over 2kms is open to visitors, did not quite see the entire 2kms.
The Mutianyu
section of the Great Wall has been meticulously restored and is the said to be
the most accessible location to visit. There are escalators, elevators and a cable car to provide
easy access to most.
A
partially cloudy day, but still pleasantly warm. On arrival we took a shuttle
bus for a short distance, then walked for a while past the obligatory souvenir
shops and into a cable car. The cable car takes you near the wall crest to a paved/cobblestone
path that leads to watchtower Number 14. There were a few steep uneven steps to
the top. Some difficulty for us with aging joints. There were many people
jostling for the best photo spots but we persevered and had great views of the
wall stretching out in both directions.
We
didn’t walk too far past the watchtower as the terrain was fairly steep and we
thought that we had had enough fun climbing. Our guide pointed out people say that
”they climb the Great Wall” not walk it. We spent about half an hour exploring
the gate house before heading back down on a slightly different route avoiding
the steepest steps.
We
reversed the cable car and we visited a couple of the souvenir shops and picked up a few trinkets including a Mao green cap with red star, a have to have. Suitable retail therapy and back to the shuttle bus.
Once again folks were
obsessed with my beard and asked for selfies with me. Leaving the bus a lady
wanted her photo taken with me, I complied (not free had been advised by a friend to charge $5, rather than cash I requested that they allow me to take a selfie too) she then insisted that her whole family have their photo taken
with me too. My ego has been massively inflated.
Mobile Coffee Station
Off the bus we are reunited with our driver for the journey back to Beijing. We
saw an interesting coffee station in the parking lot as we exited. There was a
Bus with a man looking into his mobile (don’t we all?) sitting on a stool
tending his espresso maker and an adjacent fridge in the underside luggage
storage area. The driver was brewing up a Java while sitting back waiting for
his load to return.
Soon
we were headed back toward Beijing and to lunch. Our guide had played up a certain dish as
a local delicacy, something that we have, not unsurprisingly, had not previously dined on(think Shrek/ Eddie Murphy).
Donkey Burger
Indeed, it was donkey on a bun washed down
with a beer (the guide and driver did not have a beer). The donkey bun/burger was
quite tasty, a largely nondescript flavoured meat that certainly was not chicken. Was just the meat on a toasted bun. We also had a very fine spinach and egg
soup. All the food has been good. Back to the car and a long restful drive back
to our hotel. Today was not as strenuous a day as the previous few days. For
dinner we weren’t very hungry but were very lazy.
Excellent Dim Sum
We went downstairs to the
fancy restaurant in the hotel again, this time we ordered four delicious dishesfrom the dim sum menu. Mmmm.
Tomorrow,
we take the train to Xi’an(Shian), will explore Xi'an for a
few days. Train day should be an easy rest day? It’s just the two of us with our
guide who will get us to the station and onto the bullet train. We’ll have a
different guide in Xi’an our next city. When we go to Tibet we’ll be in a
larger group tour.
Day 4 May 21 Bullet Train to Xi’an
We are up at 5:30 enjoyed another fine buffet breakfast and packed our stuff. In the car by 8AM, train station at 9. Angela is very kind with excellent attention to
detail. She got us train tickets, took us to the gate and walked with us all
the way to the platform. Didn’t want her "elderly" clients to get lost.
