4th December: Wuhan, China

It was cold, cloudy, and damp today in Wuhan. We spent the morning catching up on research and writing, with trips out for coffee and snacks. I was very proud of my haul of an oat milk latte, a chocolate chip cookie, millet porridge, and two vegetable baos for a total of £1.70. Kaja was less happy with hers of two sesame breads, but I thought they were delicious. The best of all though was the pomelo.

Eventually in mid-afternoon, we decided to get out properly. Wuhan has the newest of the world’s 13 suspension railways and it seemed like the perfect activity for what had now become a properly grim day. We didn’t quite realise how far out of town it was though! About 30 stops later on the metro, we arrived. The two lines twisting through the sky looked very cool. The helpful staff member got us the cheapest ticket and up we went to board our first dangleway!

Unfortunately, there were a lot of teething problems. The countdown boards kept changing from as little as 1 minute to as many as 30. Even the staff didn’t know when a train (are they called that?) would show up. Eventually and very slowly one crept out of the mist and picked us up. They are currently small, driverless units with seats facing to the sides. In a surprise to absolutely nobody who has been to China recently, there are sections of glass in the floor! We travelled one stop, before everyone was told to get off. We waited and waited to go back, in the biting damp cold, without any luck. One train did arrive in this time but everybody missed it as we’d all just been told to go to the other platform! Half an hour after starting out, we gave up and left.

Little did we realise that this was actually only the start of our travel woes. Out in the sticks, we ordered a Didi to somewhere for dinner. This was quick to arrive and cheap but turned into the worst taxi journey we’ve ever had. Immediately, the driver started coughing up his lungs and making noises I’ve never heard a human make. I spent the journey with my head out of the window, getting freezing and wet but which seemed more preferable than breathing inside. This had another issue of giving me full visibility of his ridiculous driving. He swerved in and out of traffic as if playing GTA and ran through numerous crossings. There was nowhere to get out. We’re both convinced he was high and we put in an official complaint to the company. We were in a state of shock whilst eating our buffet for dinner. This place had most of my favourite dishes – fried aubergine, dried mushroom bread, pickles, roasted squash, marinated gluten, and spicy-sour soup – but I barely tasted any of it. Still, we’re safe and now back in the warm.