An Unexpected Conversation

Our train car from Beijing to Datong.

We completed our first train leg of our 8,000-kilometer journey to Moscow – a seven-hour hard-seat train ride from Beijing to Datong and it was painless. In fact, the ride was spectacular, and that’s mainly due to one man – Zhang Fei Long – who took great effort to communicate with us. As soon as we sat down in our seats, his eyes were glued to us, and not in the usual ‘you’re different and strange’ kind of way, but in an astonished kind of way. He tried speaking Chinese to us but I could only make out a few words. He quickly learned that speaking Chinese to us was a bit of a dead end, but he was excited nonetheless. He’d look at us with eager eyes and would be on the verge of muttering some words before becoming exasperated with the fact that he couldn’t communicate what he was thinking. This happened over and over. All I could say was, “duibuqi,” sorry.

Zhang Fei Long had a loud voice that attracted many onlookers. People sat up in their seats, stood up, their faces pointed our way with amusement. We had become a form of entertainment. I could tell from his interaction with his friend that they were discussing us and his want to talk to us, to ask us questions. When straight talking didn’t work, he even tried tracing characters with his finger on Scott’s leg, as if that would make things clearer. He resorted to his phone, typing English words strung together to make fairly intelligible sentences. At one point he typed, “What your favorite spot?”  Scott realized a few minutes later, after some gestures and words were exchanged, that he probably meant, “What is your favorite sport?” Both Scott and Zhang Fei Long answered basketball.

Eventually, a young woman plopped herself down across from us. She had been brought to us to be a translator and she was great. Her name was Hua Yujia. She’s in college studying design and revealed to us hours later that we were the first foreigners she had ever talked with. Scott and I were shocked at that confession as her English was excellent and she spoke with confidence.

Through Hua Yujia, the two of us and Zhang Fei Long were able to communicate for hours. Zhang Fei Long even said to us (through Hua Yujia), “When I talk to you, time passes quickly,” which is a truly nice compliment. We received more compliments later.

Besides basketball and the NBA (for which others around us joined in with names of famous NBA players), other topics included what we did for a living (Zhang Fei Long never would reveal what he did as he said it was too complicated to explain; Scott’s theory was that he was a gambler), the cost of traveling, family, hometowns, hobbies, and Zhang Fei Long’s “love” life. He was quite the jokester. At the age of 27, he is still single with “many girlfriends.” He does plan on marrying, but will still maintain his “many girlfriends,” (“just joking,” he added). The more we talked, the more spoken English Zhang Fei Long revealed and the fact that he understood a lot of what Scott and I were saying without Hua Yujia’s translation. Even though he hadn’t spoken in ten years, it seemed a lot of it came back to him, though it was nice to have the translator as a crutch. Toward the end of our talk, as Zhang Fei Long’s destination and home, Zhangjiakou, approached, he made sure to tell us, “When you travel, make an effort to talk to the local people. Even if they don’t speak English, maybe they could find someone who does.” It’s good advice. Zhang Fei Long also told us what to eat in Datong – dao xiao mien – more good advice.

His friend, whose name we never learned, also imparted some words to us. Through their questioning, Scott and I were able to explain how we’re returning back to Tanzania (we kept it general and said, “Africa,” to which Hua Yujia proved her understanding by replying, “black.”) to teach underserved students, students who wouldn’t otherwise get an education without the school that we’re teaching at. We also explained how we lived in Bhutan to teach and, generally, just enjoy traveling. Zhang Fei Long’s friend said how he thought that what we’re doing is great – to travel, see the world, and do good things, and that we should keep up that lifestyle as much as possible. When he said his words for Hua Yujia to translate, his tone was very serious, and Scott and I were very touched.

Soon, it became time for the conversation to end as Zhang Fei Long, his friend, and Hua Yujia had to prepare for getting off at the next stop. We all exchanged email addresses, wished each other well on our travels and life, welcomed one another to our hometowns and countries, and said goodbye. When the train stopped, people started to file out, Scott stood up and we both looked out the window. As Zhang Fei Long stepped off the train to walk away, he turned to look back, and we all met eyes and waved. 

Friend, Zhang Fei Long, Hua Yujia's boyfriend, Hua Yujia.