Along the rails

Meal and usages

During this lunch, I get to understand a few Chinese customs. For example, one must never put chopsticks directly on the table because the table is dirty, and that would be unhealthy. One must not use their fingers except for meat; one must never plant chopsticks directly into the rice, because rice is a dish for offerings and it would be as though a knife was planted in one’s ancestor’s memory. In China, in restaurants, they don’t offer napkins so you have to bring your own or pay for the ones the restaurant distributes. When we are finished, we go get the maps to study the rest of the journey. But we can’t finish because there’s a staff meeting in the restaurant, so I return to the compartment while the other three, dad, Yang Dong,and Liu Jia go take pictures and film the train. In the meantime, I send SMSs to my cousin Soheil, mom, Marina, Estelle and Philipe, my grandparents, and to Alain a family friend, and I speak with my friend Tristan.