Yesterday, after a day visit to Beijing, I took a train back to Jinan. Onmy way to Beijing in the morning it took me 4 1/2 hrs to get there, but on the way back i spent more than 7 hours going the same distance, as it was a slow train, stopping many times along the way, so I spent most of the night on the train, getting home only at 4 a.m. And what's more, there were no seats left so I had to buy a standing ticket... I was really not looking forward to the trip at all.

But what do you know, it turned out to be a very good 7 hours, as I met this Chinese guy who started talking to me (ok, this wasn't exactly a surprise... all those hours of train conversations that usually always follow the same pattern) in great English, and we ended up sharing his corner of the seat for the whole trip and talking for 7 hours. And there's quite a lot to be said in 7 hours of conversation...

We managed to cover topics ranging from China, working, dreams, Buddhism, Taiwan, corruption, love, his wife's divorce from her ex-husband, books and fortune telling to the meaning of life (just HAD to cover that one, too, eh ;)

It was refreshing to talk to someone who talked to me openly about his (and many other people's frustrations) about the current political system, how he feels despair at the fact that he at 31 years has never seen a voting slip and that someone else keeps making decisions and policies that concern his life and future, while he has no infuence over the decisions. But he chooses not to talk about it normally, he says he just keeps quiet, as there is nothing he can do and what's the use of complaining. But when i asked him when is it ever going to change if nobody says anything, he said that he believes that as the middle class gets bigger and bigger, they will start to voice more demands and things will begin to change.

He also talked about the problems in Chinese workplaces, telling me about his and his wife's experiences of how people would do just about anything to climb up on the ladder, they would cheat and lie about their collegues to the bosses, ruthlessly compete for a place on top or at least a step higher. And of course the bosses are the ones who get all the money that the company makes, while the salaries of the common employees can be very low.

Another things we talked about was the way that the Chinese society is changing so quickly that people are forgetting to preserve what good is left of the old, just in their greed to grab all the new things as quickly and as much of them as they can. People are running after money and materia and forgetting the rich culture of this country. But he was optimistic about it, saying that when those people, or the next generations, are more confortable with better living standards, they can again afford to turn to their own culture and appreciate and cherish it more.

He also told me the story of him and his wife, how they were high-school sweethearts but he eventully broke it off when they went to university of different cities. He then had a 6-year relationship with another woman, which the also ended. After 10 years of seeing his old girlfriend the last time, they both ended up working in their old hometown and he called her up. And when they saw each other again, that was it. He found out that she had been loving him all those years, although she was now married to another man, but not very happily. Shen then made a very brave decision for a young woman in today's China and filed for divorce, which her soon-to-be-ex-husband finally granted, though she had to pay him for it. But in the end the two old lovers got each other, and got married. And now she is pregnant, and he was glowing with happiness, talking about her and their baby. Just made me feel all warm and fuzzy listening to him and seeing his love and happiness :)

And so what about the meaning of life? Well, some say it's 42 (sorry, the inner geek in me raising her head) but I'll leave the final answer for another time...