Still Tippin'

Lemme just say, for those folks what haven't spent 12 hours lodged into the cheapest section of the Chinese rail network, when you step it up from the "Hard Seat" to the "Hard Sleeper" you are entering an entirely different world. So when we hopped into our lil bunks for the 16 hour jaunt from Xi'an to Chengdu, we were in the international parlance of mass burger chains, "Lovin' it." We celebrated by mixin' a little Lean for the ride and sittin back with DJ Screw. The Hard Sleeper takes a little planning to get the tickets in time, but its all kinds of worth it. You save a day instead of having to make up a night's sleep when you stumble off the train dazed into the waiting arms of the various touts and taxis offering 20 dollar rides to the next block.