Ni hao oh good and patient readers. It is the forth anniversary of 'Aroundtheworldin80dinners'. I hope you've enjoyed our little journey around some of the more interesting restaurants in our area, as well as some of the more exotic locations I have visited. After all we don't want to get too parochial. So I thought we would end this travelogue with a journey. To save on airfares and to see something of the countryside, I decided to travel from Hong Kong to Beijing by train. Despite taking some 24 hours, it was a pleasant and intriguing trip, made all the better a fully functional and charming dining car that would put many stationary eateries to shame.
I lunched on a fine omelet, rice and soup as I watched the Chinese landscape flow by. I traveled without interruption, slept soundly in my appointed sleeping compartment and arrived in Beijing no more than 10 minutes behind schedule.
The service was immaculate. I can't remember ever seeing any attendant on a British train in a pristine uniform let alone a frilly pinny and a ready smile!
When I arrived home I asked for a ticket for the 20 minute service from the airport to Oxford Rd only to be told there was a replacement bus due to engineering works. Oh, the shame!
